The King in the North and the Volantene
by Sheev The Senate Palpatine
Summary: Robb troubled by the war meets a strange foreigner who claims he can make him king, the king in the north makes the unlikely decision to trust this man and see how he can help him, how can one man lift another to be king. set right after 2X01
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Robb Stark was taking one of his late night walks outside of his camp; since the war started and his father was killed he found it hard to sleep and instead would sneak out of the camp to clear his head. The king was walking through a small wooded just outside camp with Grey wind by his side when he heard the sound of steel against wood, he drew his sword and followed the sound to a figure striking a tree with his back to the king, Robb could tell by that he wasn't a Northman but he also didn't look like a Lannister, "who are you?" Robb asked pointing his sword at the figure who just held up their hands

"shouldn't I be asking you that" he said still not turning

"I am Robb Stark king in the north now who are you?"

"you're Robb Stark?" the man asked

"aye now who are you" Robb still had his sword pointed at the man

"then I've been looking for you your grace" he said turning giving Robb a good look at him, he wasn't a man he was barely Robbs age, you could see black stubble growing on his chin and his skin had a tanned hue to it

"I don't care who you're looking for throw down your sword and come with me" Robb commanded

"I brought the sword for you as a gift so have it" he threw the sword at Robbs feet giving Robb his first good look at it

"is that Valyrian steel?" he asked now interested in who this man was and why he was here

"it is your grace I wouldn't bring you some common steel sword"

"where did you get this are you a noble?" the king asked still suspicious of this strange man even though Grey wind didn't see him as a threat

"no but my family is rich" the man told him

"doesn't matter how rich you are even the Lannisters can't buy something like this"

"if you want to hear where I got it from and why I'm here you might want to sit down it's a long story" the man sat down and rested against the tree he was cutting moments ago

"first what is your name?" Robb asked still pointing his sword at the man

"I'm Eshan, now put that sword away I'm unarmed"

"fine" Robb sat down across from the man but kept his sword out, "now why are you here Eshan, and where did you get Valyrian steel"

"I come from Volantis …."

"Volantis you're a long way from home" Robb commented interrupting the man

"as I told you my family is rich we got that way when an ancestor of mine looted Valyria for all its steel right after the doom that's how I got the sword my family has a lot of Valyrian steel artefacts"

"that explains the sword but why would you leave Volantis to come here?" Robb asked

"I'm the youngest son so I won't inherit anything so my father gave me some money a Valyrian steel sword and told me to make something greater than we have now and that's how I found my way to Westeros"

"so then why are you looking for me?"

"when I arrived I found out about the war and after listening around I decided to offer you my services"

"and what can you do?" the king asked looking Eshan dead in his eyes

"I will not claim to be a great warrior but I am the smartest man you will ever know and from what I heard you need that"

Robb looked Eshan in his eyes looking for a signs he was lying but found nothing and the king didn't feel threatened by him and his wolf seemed calm, "if you were a Lannister assassin you would have killed me already and Grey wind would have killed you so what do you want for your services?" the king relaxed a bit

"one I want you to take my council and consider it two I want compensation for my services three I want a hundred men to command and four I want to see you win this war, don't forget those"

"you really only want a hundred men?" Robb asked finding the request strange, "why don't you ask for more?"

"a hundred soldiers under me are better than a thousand under anyone else" he told the king looking him dead in the eyes

Robb smirked as he got up and sheathed his sword then bent down to pick up the Valyrian steel sword before throwing it to Eshan, "follow me back to camp" Robb turned and headed to camp

"the sword is a gift it's yours your grace" Eshan said walking behind him

"I already have a sword you keep it"

The three made it back to camp by morning and immediately Robb was informed of a war council, Eshan followed the king to his council and as soon as all the lords sat down Theon was the first to speak up, "who's your new friend your grace?"

"this is Eshan he is offering his council to me" the king explained

"we don't need a foreigner to help us win this war" Lord Umber spoke with murmurs of agreement , "he can fuck off back to where he came from"

"he's probably a spy we should cut his head off and send it to those Lannister bastards" Lord Glover suggested

"I'm not a spy so you will just be sending your enemies the head of a random man" Eshan spoke up

"my father always said action show you who your true friends are " the king silenced all the lords, "so Eshan I want you to do something for me"

"what do you want me to do your grace?" Eshan asked slightly bowing his head

"my mother once tried to get my aunt Lysa to commit her knights to my cause but she refused, I want you to get her to side with me in this war the knights of the Vale will be invaluable"

"give me ten men and some horses and I'll make you king of the vale" Eshan assured the king

"good come back with the knights of the Vale and I'll meet your demands if you return without them then you will not be able to show your face in the north again" Rob warned him before summoning a soldier, "get him ten men and some horses"

After Eshan had left Lord Bolton turned to the young king, "are you seriously sending him to negotiate with Lysa Arryn, that woman is insane she'll throw him through that moon door of hers"

"if he succeeds we gain the support of the Vale if he fails we lose nothing" Robb said before they moved on to other matters

End of chapter 1

I've had this chapter since the red wedding episode but I just now decided to clean it up and put it out there, what do ya think.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eshan rode for days until he could see the Eyrie towering above him in the clouds covered in mist, as they rode along the road they were greeted by knights of the Vale, "who goes there?" one of them asked

"I am Eshan council of King Robb Stark, I am here to speak to Lady Lysa Arryn"

"we received the rider you sent ahead she is expecting you" the knights turned and escorted the group to the Eyrie

Eshan marched in to the great hall with his men close behind, he looked up at Lysa Arryn sitting on her throne with Robin on her lap looking down at them, "did my nephew send you to gain the support of the Vale"

Eshan stepped forward stopping just before the moon door, "I am here to get the knights of the Vale for my King and I will not leave without them" he declared looking Lysa dead in the eyes

"well then you will be here until the war ends" Lysa said as she held Robin close, "I will not leave my sweet Robin defenceless against those monsters"

"Robb Stark is fighting to kill those monsters, send your knights to aid him"

"I WILL NOT LET THEM DO TO MY SON WHAT THEY DID TO MY HUSBAND" she screamed but that didn't deter Eshan

"mummy can we make the man fly" Robin spoke up as he got bored

"what do you mean by fly?" Eshan asked not understanding

"it's how we execute our prisoners, we throw them through that door" Lysa pointed to the moon door in front of Eshan, "and if you don't want to leave through that door leave through the other immediately"

When Lysa had finished Eshan burst in to laughter as he doubled over and almost fell to the floor, "what is so funny?" Lysa asked

Eshan straightened himself and looked at Lysa, "it just occurred to me I don't need to convince you I just need to convince him" Eshan's gaze fell on Robin, "you are the Lord of the Vale so it is your decision"

"mummy what is the man talking about?" Robin looked to his mother

"don't listen sweet Robin" Lysa held her son closer

"Lord Robin Arryn of the Vale if you commit your knights to my Kings cause and declare him King of the Vale then I shall bring you a King you can make fly" Eshan declared to the boy as he saw his eyes light up

"can you really bring me a King and I can make him fly?" the boy jumped out of the throne in excitement

"yes if you commit your knights and name Robb Stark King of the Vale" a smile spread across Eshans face as he realised he had won

"don't liste…" Lysa tried to speak by Robin interrupted

"KNGHTS FOLLOW ROBB STARK KING OF THE VALE TO WAR AND BRING ME BACK A KING I CAN MAKE FLY" Robin shouted and that was all the vale lords needed

"leave a few hundred in the vale to protect your lands my Lord" Eshan said as he turned and walked out

Eshan left the Eyrie with the knights of the Vale and the Vale lords behind him, it took them much longer to return to the norther camp but after a few weeks Eshan rode in to camp triumphant enjoying the look on the Lords faces as they watched him lead the Vales army in to camp, Robb Stark walked out to meet him and the kings smirked as he saw the new army, "so you got the Vale to fight for me" Robb said as he looked at the thousands of men

"not only that your grace King Robb Stark of the North, the Trident and the Vale" as Eshan said it he handed the king a letter

The king opened the letter that was sealed with the Arryn sigil and tried to read through the terrible hand writing, although Robb couldn't read it all it basically said the Vale commits its men this cause and name him King of the Vale and it was signed the Lord of the Vale, "well you did say you would make me King of the Vale" Robb joked as folded the letter, "how did you get my aunt to give in?"

"I didn't I gave the real Lord of the Vale what he wanted"

"and what was that?" Robb asked fearing that one of his sisters might have to marry Robin

"once this war is over and we have King Joffery in custody I promised he will be tried and executed in the Vale along with the rest of the Lannisters" Eshan revealed slightly fearing consequences

"it is fine as long as we win and I get to throw him through that stupid door I'm fine with it" Robb then turned and ordered Eshan to follow him in to his tent, the king showed him his war plan

"so you plan to invade the Westerlands" Eshan said after studying the map

"yes I believe we can take the Westerlands and show them we are a force to be reckoned with"

"we shouldn't try to hold the Westerlands it will give the Lannisters a home advantage" Eshan kept studying the map like he was looking for something

"most of the Lord want to invade the Westerlands what would you suggest?"

"we go in fast split our force and attack the Golden tooth then on to Casterly rock and Lannisport after we commandeer the ships there we move to Deep den and in to the Reach all the while harassing the Lannisters in the Westerlands by the time we get out Tywin would have dispatched an army to try take advantage of our divided force once the force in the Riverlands engages him then the force from the Westerlands will come round and attack the rear"

"he'll be trapped and we can crush him" Robb Stark said laying his hands on the map, "then we march on Kings landing giving the ships we commandeered time to attack the city from the sea"

"there is one big flaw" Eshan admitted, "if the Tyrells are given a reason to attack us while we are engaging the Lannisters then the army at the back will be destroyed and you will lose half your force"

"hopefully my mother can make peace with Renly"

"what was your plan your grace?" Eshan asked to keep Robb from thinking about his mother

"I want to use our full force and crush the Lannisters in the Westerlands and draw the rest of the army to us then once Stannis see the opportunity he will take Kings landing and we can negotiate with him"

"your plan does have less risks and with the added force of the Vale we do slightly outnumber the Lannisters" Eshan stroked his chin as he looked at the map, "we only need to keep them in the Westerlands for your plan to work so there will be no need for open conflict"

"I knew I was right to trust you" Robb said as he slid in to his chair, "for giving me the Vale I'll give you your hundred men"

"thank you your grace" Eshan bowed slightly as gave his leave

"if we destroy the Lannisters will there be peace" Robb wondered out loud

"before this war there was Roberts rebellion before that you had a string of mad kings before that you had the dance of dragons and before that you had Aegons conquest and before that you had seven kingdoms fighting each other and you can go back to when the people here were fucking in caves" Eshan told the king, "this land won't be peaceful as long as there are people here and even then it's debatable"

Robb laughed a little at the comment, "so the peace we're fighting for doesn't exist"

"fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity, even if you win in another hundred year someone will rebel against someone else and there will be another war" Eshan turned and before he left the tent, "I'm not saying give up just don't fight for peace that is achieved through talk; fight for vengeance, fight to destroy your enemies, fight for the rage and anger you feel just don't fight for peace that is a hopeless cause"

Eshan left the tent and the king alone to think on what he had said.

End of chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The northern King walked out of his tent in to the fresh morning air, his army was a few days march from the Westerlands and many of the men were ready for a good fight, the King walked through the camp greeting the waking soldiers as he went until he saw a group of about a hundred soldier in a circle cheering something on, the King marched over and pushed past the crowd to find Eshan fighting a soldier. The Volantene ducked as the soldier, who looked much bigger than him, threw a punch Eshan threw his fist up hitting the man in his exposed armpit, the soldier stumbled but caught himself before attempting to grab Eshan but he just ducked under the soldier again managing to get behind him Eshan threw a flurry of punches to the man's spine dropping him to the ground in pain. The crowd cheered as Eshan paraded around the circle with his hands up until he spotted the king.

"your grace" Eshan said as he wiped some of the blood off his face

"what is this?" Robb asked looking at the now silent crowd

"just getting to know my men" Eshan joked

"I'm surprised that's all, surprised that a scrawny fuck like you can fight so well" the King started to laugh and the crowd followed

"if you wanna see how well I fight I could always teach your grace a lesson in humility"

"after seeing what you just did I'll decline your kind offer"

The King left and continued to walk around the camp until a soldier informed him that the war council was convening, Robb made his way back to his tent to find Eshan, the northern Lords, the river Lords and the vale Lords

"quite the crowded table" Eshan joked making the King smirk but none of the Lords thought it was funny

"we could always get rid of a few people" Lord Umber said looking at Eshan, "I know a few we could start with"

"how gracious of you to offer to leave Lord Umber but I think we need you at this table" Eshan said causing the King to visibly chuckle but Lord Umber looked like he was about to strangle the Volantene

"we have more pressing issues" Lord Bolton spoke up, "we are a three days march from entering the Westerlands and they have gathered there forces"

"that is a good thing we can crush their entire force in one strike and we'll be free to sack every damn Lannister keep" Lord Glover said

"we don't want to stay in the Westerlands too long Tywin will send an army" Eshan pointed out

"so what we'll defeat him like we have at every turn" Lord Umber said

"but we had the advantage of fighting in the Riverlands and Tywin made the mistake of going in to the Riverlands " Eshan told the Lords, "you don't fight a wolf by jumping in to its den and a wolf doesn't run in to a hunters hunting grounds"

"with the Vale our army numbers 55,000 and the army in the Westerlands is barely 10,000 and Tywin only has about 40,000 men according to the last reports we got, we outnumber them for the first time in this war and we should use this chance to destroy them" Lord Corbray stood up and addressed everyone

"we've been outnumbered this entire war but you saw what having the home advantage can do, we will be able to crush the Lannister force in the Westerlands but with Tywin's experience and his knowledge of the land we would be soundly defeated" Eshan argued the Vale lord

"if you think we would lose if we face Tywin in the Westerlands then what do you suggest Eshan?" Robb asked

"if we crush the force they have there already then the Westerlands will be defenceless, I suggest we send small forces to sack the castles while the main force marches to engage Tywin in the Reach that land is foreign to both of us so he loses the advantage" Eshan laid out his plan after a few minutes of thinking, "I suggest we then leave the rest of the Westerlands for the iron born to sack"

"we can't lose the chance to show the Lannisters our strength" Lord Bracken argued

"you all make good arguments but Eshan is right if we fight Tywin in the Westerlands the advantage to him would be to great the best we can do is march to meet him in the Reach" none of the Lords argued Robbs logic even though most of them hated that it came from a foreigner, "and if we can secure an alliance with Renly then his forces can come from behind and destroy Tywin's"

The meeting went on for another few minutes with them talking about food, moral and prisoners, especially one, but the meeting ended and all the Lords left the King in peace but he told Eshan to stay, "how old are you?" Robb asked as the Volantene sat down again

"I am going to be 16 in a few months" he answered after thinking for a few minutes

"and you are the smartest man I let sit at this table you're even smarter than I am" the King took a deep drink of his wine, "you probably have a plan on how to end this war in three days"

"your grace I have a plan to end this war in three seconds but unfortunately it involves stabbing you in the neck and then getting ripped apart by angry Northmen"

The King laughed a little before looking Eshan directly in his eyes, "do you think we can win?"

"I know a lot of things but one thing I don't know is if victory is certain or if it is impossible but even if it is impossible and every damn god doesn't want you to be King I'll put a crown on your head and give you a kingdom"

"I fear you'll either be my saviour or the death of me"

"you think too highly of me your grace much too highly" Eshan got up and walked out of the tent

The Volantene walked all the way back to his tent thinking trying to predict the path of the war, "as long as the Reach doesn't rise against us we can win" he whispered to himself, "but in the event I need to be ready, so Eshan can you win a war without leading an army in to battle"

End of chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The sun had just risen and the northern king was woken by the sound of heavy breathing, clanking steel and shouting, the king pulled himself out of bed and got dressed continually whispering to himself, "it better not be him"

The king walked out of his tent and found a hundred men in full battel gear running round the camp in formation, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Robb shouted at them making the leader call for them to halt

"good morning your grace" the leader removed his helmet to reveal the Volantene

"why do you do this every morning?" Robb asked as he looked at the men who could barely keep themselves up

"to keep my men fit and disciplined, I did say I would make the greatest fighting unit in your army"

"but every morning these men look like they are about to collapse" Robb pointed out

"good when we started half of them never made it this far see the improvement"

"if you keep doing this then when the real fight comes it won't matter how fit they are they will all be dead from exhaustion"

"don't worry about that they will be ready when the time comes, now forward man" Eshan ran off and the men followed, reluctantly, behind

The king got a few more hours of sleep before he went and got breakfast pending that time talking to his troops, after breakfast he went and observed Eshan's training but it only really consisted of practising all the different formations but he did notice something they moved fluidly and instantly to Eshan's commands and he was only calling out numbers and vague orders. After the training was done the king walked up to Eshan, "how did you do that?" he asked

"do what?" the Volantene asked back

"you barely said 2 words and they knew what to do"

"that's why I only asked for a hundred men so I can get to know each and every one of them, I also split them in to groups of ten and let them elect their own leader that way they can act independently and change tactic instantly" Eshan shared, "you should write these down"

The two soon had to go to a war council that was convening, "we are about 2 days from engaging with the small force in the Westerlands" Lord Glover spoke to the table full of lords

"we shall attack at night when their defences are weakest" Robb said as he looked at the war map

"do you have any complaints foreigner" Lord Karstark asked Eshan

"none our force outnumbers them 5 to 1 and from the scouts reports it is a training camp, none of them have seen battle and a surprise attack at night will mean they won't be able to mount any meaningful defence"

The council soon ended and everyone filed out except for Lord Karstark, "how can I help you Lord Karstark?" Robb asked when he noticed the bannerman wasn't leaving

"I don't like that you let that foreigner in to our war council he could still be a spy"

"he brought me the Vale a spy wouldn't do that"

"a good spy would and he seems like a really good spy"

"if he was an assassin I would be dead and if he was a spy then we would see a surprise attack"

"I still don't like it"

"he has valuable insight and as long as he is useful he shall stay on the council and that is final"

"yes your grace" Lord Karstark reluctantly bowed and left the tent

It was the day before the battle and Robb was not woken by men being forced to run and this worried him, the king got up and left his tent heading for where Eshan camped with his men to find them relaxing in their camp, "where is Eshan?" Robb asked a man who seemed to be carving a wooden block

"he's in his tent your grace" Robb marched in to his tent to find the Volantene still in bed fast asleep

"wake up" he ordered as he kicked the man out of bed

"wha hapenig" he mumbled as he woke up

"why are you not torturing your men this morning?" he asked

"it's a technique used by many armies in Essos you train everyday but the day before a battle you rest and relax" he told the king, "you wouldn't want to spend your last day on earth training"

"you foreigners puzzle me" Robb commented as he walked away to spend the rest of the day preparing himself for battle and looking over the plan again and again

It was dark and the rain came down on Robb and his men, he sat on his horse as he listened for the sound of horses and men screaming as they're attacked by a wolf once he heard it the king called for the attack and shouted their war cry of "THE KING IN THE NORTH".

It was now morning and Robb walked the battlefield as Lord Bolton told him of their minimal casualties and tried to get him to kill the prisoners, as they walked they came across a Lannister soldier fighting nurses trying to amputate his foot, Robb marched over and held him down and the woman sawed off his foot, once it was done and he was loaded on a cart the woman started to pack her things, "what's your name" the king asked

"Talisa" she answered showing no interest

"your last name?"

"you want to know what side my family fights for?"

"you know my family name you have me at a disadvantage"

"that boy lost his foot on your orders" she said ignoring his question

"they killed my father" he told her

"that boy did"

"that family he fights for"

"do you think he's friends with king Joffrey?" she asked sarcastically

"he's a fisherman's son who grew up near Lannisport he probably never even held a spear before the shoved one in his hands a few months ago" she finshed packing and stood up to leave

"I have no hatred for the lad"

"that should help his foot grow back" she commented before turning and leaving

The king stood silent for a moment before he chased after her, "you would have us surrender, end all this bloodshed I understand then the country would be at peace and life would be just under the righteous hand of good King Joffrey"

"you going to kill Joffrey?" she asked as she washed her hands

"if the gods give me strength" he replied

"and then what?" she asked looking at him

"I don't know, we'll go back to Winterfell I have no desire to sit on the iron throne"

"so who will?"

"I don't know"

"you're fighting to over throw a king and have no plan for what comes after"

"first we have to win the war"

She said nothing as she got on to the back of a cart and it started leaving, "you never told me where you're from" Robb said as she left

"Volantis" she replied

"Volantis your far from home" he commented before shouting, "the boy was lucky you were here"

"he was unlucky that you were" she got the last word in before she disappeared from earshot

As the king watched her leave Eshan walked by counting the gold he had looted, "who will sit on the iron throne when this is over" the king wondered outload

"Stannis or Renly" Eshan answered before going back to counting his gold

"what?" Robb asked turning to the man

"Stannis or Renly will sit on the iron throne"

"will he be ok with us taking half his kingdom?" Robb asked becoming worried about another war

"Stannis will attack Kings landing and if he is successful, Joffrey will die and he will have the throne but we can ally ourselves with Renly on the condition of our independence and then over throw Stannis and give Renly the crown but if Stannis loses then if Renly takes Kings landing we can negotiate with him and get rid of Stannis but if we take Kings landing then we will be in the perfect position to negotiate with both of them"

"do you have a plan to take Kings landing?" Robb asked jokingly

"give me a map an 10 minutes" Eshan said as he walked away counting his gold

"I'm starting to think everyone from Volantis is like this" Robb muttered before heading off to help clean up the battlefield.

End of chapter 3

 **Yes that was exactly the conversation Robb and Talisa had in the show word for word.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The northern army had been running through the northern Westerlands taking the supplies they need, at the moment the host was camped and the king was enjoying a walk around the camp meeting his men and looking at the spoils of war when he spotted the nurse from before, sitting writing a letter, he walked up to her and called, "Lady Talisa"

"your grace" she said turning, "I'm not sure I'm a lady Westerosi customs are still a bit foreign to me"

"it's hard to keep all the rules straight but if I remember my lessons a woman of noble birth is always called a lady unless she's a queen or a princess I could find someone who know" Robb started to ramble

"why are you so sure I am of noble birth?" she asked

"because it's obvious"

"what if I told you my father sold lace on the long bridge and my mother, my brother and I lived with him above our shop" she said getting up looking the king in the eye

"I'd call you a liar" he said stepping towards her

"not very noble to accuse a lady of dishonesty" she said still looking in his eyes until she broke, "I always thought I was a brilliant liar"

"better at amputations I'm afraid" Robb said bringing back some bad memories until he broke the silence, "quite a pretty spot"

"will we be here long?" she asked looking around

"I couldn't really discuss troop movements with yer"

"I'm not a spy" she said

"of course a spy would deny being a spy" he countered

"you're right you found me out, I'm writing a letter to the Lannisters the young wolf is on the move" she said mockingly

"perhaps you'd join me" he said before stumbling out, "if you've got time of course"

He was interrupted by the appearance of his mother who called out his name, he turned glad to see his mother and walked in to her arms, "mother this is Lady Talisa she's been helping with the wounded she's been very …. Helpful"

"Lady Talisa"

"Lady Stark"

"Lady Talisa?" his mother asked

"Maegyr" she answered

"Maegyr" his mother thought for a bit, "forgive me I do not know this name"

"an uncommon name her an old name in Volantis" Talisa said before she excused herself and left the two to talk

Robb and his mother spoke and she reminded him of his promise to Lord Frey when they were interrupted by Lord Bolton with news for Winterfell

"this cannot be true" Robb said as he looked from the message to Lord Bolton

"I'm afraid it is"

"why would Theon…."

"because the Greyjoys are treasonous whores" Lord Bolton interrupted

"my brothers?" Robb asked

"we've heard nothing of them" Lord Bolton paused, "but Rodrik Cassel is dead"

The whole room was silent before his mother shouted, "I TOLD YOU NEVER TRUST A GREYJOY"

"bring me Eshan" Robb said clearly angered but trying to maintain control

"why your grace?" Lord Bolton asked

"he knew this would happen and he already has a plan I'm sure of it"

The Volantene was soon escorted in to the kings tent, "may I ask why I am here your grace"

"you are here because Theon has taken Winterfell and…"

"and you want to march back north to retake in an root out the Ironborn, you shouldn't do that" Eshan sat down opposite to the king relaxing, "I'll take my hundred and retake Winterfell and rally an army to kick the Ironborn back in to the sea"

"Winterfell is too well built a hundred men couldn't take not even from the few Theon has" Lord Bolton spoke up, "my bastard could rally more men and take it before the new moon"

"my men could get there in the week and take in in a few minutes" Eshan said

"how is that possible?" Robb asked

"Winterfell has secret escape tunnels if you tell me where one lets out then I can lead my men right in to Winterfell and they will be dead before they know what's going on"

"fine all your men will get horses ride day and night do not stop until you have Theon in chains" Robb said marching back to his desk

"yes your grace" Eshan left the tent and started to ride for Winterfell

In the northern capital Theon sat by a fire angry and trying to think of a way out, "I have held this castle for almost a month why has Robb Stark not sent anyone to reclaim it?" he asked Maester Luwin, "does he not care about his brothers?"

"well you no longer have his brothers" the maester said as he stood in the corner

"you should watch your mouth old man before I do to you what I did to Rodrik Cassel"

"Robb will come and you will not escape when he gets here this is your best chance to escape Winterfell" Luwin advised

"let him come my men will repel a million men if needs be" Theon got up and paced around the room, "I will have Robb Starks head and then my father will see he was wrong to give me up, I will do what my father couldn't I'll bring the north to heel"

"Robb Stark will not hav…." The maester was interrupted by a knock on the door

"I do not wish to be disturbed, go away" Theon said but they knocked again, "GO AWAY"

The knocking continued until Theon marched over and flung the door open screaming, "WHAT IS IT?" he was greeted by north men who threw a sack over his head and threw him to the ground before knocking him out

"what is happening?" Luwin asked as Eshan walked in to the room

"don't worry maester we have killed all the Ironborn and more men will arrive before we leave, now where is Prince Bran and Rickon?" when he asked that the maester looked to the floor

"I'm sorry but they are both dead, killed by Theon"

"I see" the Volantene said troubled, "more men will be here in a few days and we'll leave to deliver Theon to Robb"

As he had said nearly 200 men arrived at Winterfell to defend it and Eshan and his hundred mounted up to leave, as they were about to go Eshan looked at Luwin and asked, "do you think I convince Robb to spare Theon?"

"Theon did this to prove himself to his father but I don't think Robb can be swayed now that Theon has killed his brothers"

"that is exactly what I thought" Eshan said before riding out of the gate

Robb stark sat in his tent talking with Lord Bolton, "still no word?" he asked it had been over a week since Eshan rode for Winterfell

"we sent a dozen ravens, none have returned I fear it was a bad choice to send the foreigner"

"if he was going to betray me he wouldn't do it like this" Robb said, "he sent word out to raise men why would he just run away"

"maybe he's a coward but my bastard can still"

Lord Bolton was interrupted by the king, "Theon has my brothers if we storm the castle he could…"

"he wouldn't dare hurt the boys" just as Lord Bolton said Eshan marched in to the tent and threw a man, in chains and with a sack on his head, to the ground in front of Robb

"I am sorry your grace" he said

"why are you sorry?" Robb asked

"I was too slow your grace by the time I got there Theon had already killed your brothers" as soon as he said it Eshan could see the kings jaw clench and his fists tighten

"take him outside" Robb said standing up and walking out of the tent

Eshan picked Theon up and dragged him out of the tent followed by Lord Bolton, he dragged the Ironborn to a log that was nearby and threw Theon on to it before he removed the sack, with the sack gone Theon looked up at Robb, "we were brothers" Robb said as he drew his sword

"I was your prisoner" Theon said glaring at Robb

"why?" was all Robb could ask as he fought back tears

"I doesn't matter anymore just send me to the gods" Theon looked to the ground as Robb raised his sword and brought it down on the Ironborns neck, the king screamed as he threw down his sword and marched off to his own tent leaving the body for his men to deal with

"send his head to Pyke and throw his body in the river it'll find its own way to the sea" Lord Bolton said to the men standing around

End of chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Robb paced around his tent trying to calm himself but failing he screamed as he threw a map across the tent scattering map markers everywhere, as he was pacing Talisa walked in to the tent, "your grace" she said stopping his pacing

"why are you here?" he asked sitting down finally starting to feel calm

"how are you?" she asked

"how am I?, I've had to arrest my mother, the Lannister have my sister, my brothers are dead and I've just had kill a man I considered family, I am fighting a war and although I'm winning I still feel like I'm losing" Robb said getting up and rubbing his temples

"I'm sorry it was a stupid question"

"no forgive me I have no right…"

"you have every right" she interrupted, "you're a king"

"that's not the kind of king I want to be" he said looking at her

"well what type do you want to be?" she asked

"I don't know the good kind hopefully" he said, "I was not raised to be king I was raised to be Lord of Winterfell"

"I was raised to be a proper little lady" she said walking to stand next to him, "to play the harp and dance and recite poetry"

"I'd like to hear you play the harp"

"no you wouldn't" she said jokingly

"how did you go from reciting poetry to awing off feet?" Robb asked pouring them both some wine

She started her story about when her parents were away she had gone with her brother down to the river, he brother drowned and she thought he was dead but a slave risked his life to save him and that inspired her to help others and oppose slavery, she got up to leave and Robb without thinking told her he didn't want to marry the Frey girl

"I don't want you to marry her" she said not thinking either, "but you needed that bridge"

The two ran in to each other's arms and started kiss and before they knew it they were taking off each other's clothes and on the floor together. Morning came around and Eshan walked to the kings tent to see if he was ok, when he walked in he found Robb getting out of bed with a woman the Volantene immediately and waited outside for the king who came out a few seconds later, "what are you doing your grace?" Eshan asked

"it is nothing you will tell no one" Robb ordered

"fine but you are betrothed you can't be fucking other women" Eshan said, "who is she anyway?"

"she's a battlefield nurse from Volantis her name is Talisa"

"you are to be married and isn't it unkingly for you to be with a lowborn girl"

"she is a noble, she said her family name was Maegyr" when Robb said that Eshans face dropped

"you said Maegyr right you have Talisa Maegyr in your bed right now?" Eshan asked not believing it

"do you know her?" Robb asked

"her family is one of the ruling families in Volantis and her father is good friends with mine" Eshan said, "she wouldn't be here and defiantly not a battlefield nurse last time I saw her she was the picture of a noble lady, I think that woman is lying"

"well come and see" Robb said inviting Eshan in to his tent

The two walked in to find Talisa putting on her clothes with her back to them, "I'm sorry your grace but I have to go" she turned and when she saw Eshan her eyes widened, "ESHAN"

"TALISA" they both looked at each other for a few moments before Eshan broke it, "what are you doing here?"

"helping the wounded, what are you doing here?"

"making the wounded" he joked

"I thought you would still be in Volantis with your nose in a book or annoying your brothers" she said

"no I'm giving myself the ultimate test, trying to win a war for a king who is always making the wrong choice"

"it is good to see you, how is my family is grandfather still alive?" she asked

"that bastard will never die, Valyria will rise and fall again before he dies" Eshan said making Talisa laugh a bit

"it is good to see you but I must leave" she said bowing to both of them before leaving the tent

"why did you come to see me?" Robb asked sitting down

"you know about the Tyrells?"

"yes they have allied themselves with Joffrey"

"this means you will have to invade the reach"

"I had hoped to avoid this but it is now inevitable"

"yes but you are in the best position in this war, Tywin is taking his army back to Kings landing to defend it against Stannis and for right now the Tyrells have no formal alliance with the crown so their forces have moved to Highgarden this means you are free to move for now"

"what should I do if Stannis takes Kings landing?" Robb asked pouring them both wine

"we should negotiate our independence"

"Stannis will not like it and might try to fight us"

"we could get the Tyrells on our side with the promise of leniency if you're on the throne and we could get the Martells to back us due to our superior numbers"

"so you think I might have to sit on the iron throne"

"if it comes to it that might be the only way"

The two sat in uncomfortable silence until Robb stood up and broke it, "we can discuss this with my other generals who we should be with now"

The two walked in to the tent together and sat in their respective chairs, "I think we need to leave the Westerlands" Eshan said

"I agree with him" Lord Bolton said as many of the northern lords looked at him, "Tywin Lannister has gone to Kings landing there is no reason for us to stay here waiting for our enemy to come we should move back in to the River lands and meet up with Edmure and force the Lannisters in to the Crownlands"

"Stannis might still take Kings landing we should hold off until his attack has finished" Lord Karstark said

"I agree but we should still move in to the Riverlands it would be unfavourable if Tywin trapped us here" Eshan said

"you're right" Robb said, "if we get trapped here we could be destroyed, we will move back in to the Riverlands destroy any remaining Lannister forces and move in to the Reach"

End of chapter 6

 **To reply to a review left by a guest Theon didn't tell Robb that Bran and Rickon were alive because he wanted one last act of spite against the Starks and if they're never found he will be remembered as the man who killed the Stark heirs**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The northern army were a few days march from the Riverlands and had set up camp in a valley surrounded by the mountains, Eshan walked in to the kings tent to find him looking over the maps, "what is it?" he asked looking up

"we need to talk" Eshan said sounding serious

"about what?" the king asked sitting down

"about Talisa" Eshan said remaining standing

"what about her?"

"I'm going to ask her to return to Volantis" Eshan said looking for a reaction

"and why would you do that?"

"she is a distraction, you need to marry the Frey girl"

"what if I don't want to marry the Frey girl?" the king asked anger growing in his voice

"I doesn't matter what you want you need to do this otherwise you won't have the men you need to win"

"the Frey's are Tully bannermen they will follow me or I will destroy them"

"they will not follow you if you break your vow to marry on of their daughters" Eshan was growing frustrated with the kings lack of reason

"you will not send Talisa anywhere and besides I doubt she would want to stay in Volantis"

"I cannot win you a war if you keep making the wrong choice an advisor ca…"

"you sound just like my mother telling me I need to marry the Frey girl I want to follow through with my promise but I just can't bring myself to do it"

"then send Talisa away, my family will welcome her and one of my brothers can escort her to Yi Ti, last I heard it was on the edge of civil war she can help the injured there"

"no she is needed here and there is not grantee that the war will still be going on when she gets there"

"your grace you hav…"

"leave" Robb said as he rubbed his forehead

"yes your grace" Eshan bowed slightly before he turned and left the tent

As Eshan walked from the tent he ran in to Talisa, "you were talking to the king" she said

"yes"

"about me?"

"yes I tried to convince him to let me send you to Yi Ti but he wouldn't have it, I would stay away from him for now"

"that will be a bit difficult since he requested my presence" she said before walking past him and walking in to the tent

"you can still win this war Eshan" he spoke to himself before he headed back to his tent

Eshan sat on his horse as the army marched towards the Riverlands, he rode forwards to ride next to Robb, "we are about a day's march from the Riverlands"

"yes if we're lucky we can get there without incident" the king seemed distracted as he said it

"we are lucky that Tywin and the Tyrells decided to go to defend Kings landing instead of marching to meet us" Eshan was silent for a moment before he built up the courage, "we need to continue our conversation from a few days ago, I will not ask Talisa to leave for Yi Ti but we should leave her in a town she can hea…."

"I think in need to apologize to you" the king interrupted

"and why is that your grace?" Eshan asked

"I don't regret my decision but I ignored your advice"

"what did you do?"

"I am unable to marry the Frey girl"

"and why is that?"

"because I have already married Talisa" the king admitted not looking at the Volantene

Eshan took a deep breath before he responded, "with Renly dead and Stannis decimated at the Blackwater the independence of the North was guaranteed but you may have just thrown it away" Eshan rode ahead to let the king think on his words

The army had just marched in to the Riverlands and the king sat in his tent thinking on what Eshan had told him, as he sat there Talisa entered the tent and walked up behind him, "devising another battle strategy?" she asked as she rested her head on his shoulder

"no just wondering" Robb said still deep in thought, "you knew Eshan as a child how reliable a source is he?"

"well from what his brothers and sister tell me even from a young age he could predict what they would do most of the time , his father would sometimes use him negotiations and I heard he could make grown men cry"

"so he is right most of the time?"

"nearly always, he once told his father to buy up all the wine and saffron in Yi Ti then a month later Qarth raised the toll it puts on ships passing on their way to Yi Ti doubling the price of saffron"

"how could he know that would happen?" Robb asked impressed

"his father asked him and he said that he heard that Qarth was exporting less goods and that when he looked in to it he knew they would increase their tolls on ships to make up for it and in the process making any Yi Tish products more expensive"

"so he can basically see the future"

"that's what it seems like why are you asking?" Talisa sat opposite the king worried

"when I told him that we had married he told me it was a mistake"

"it may seem like he can see the future but he admitted himself that he couldn't just because he says it doesn't make it true"

"he thinks it's a mistake, my mother thinks it's a mistake and all my bannermen think it is a mistake what if it is" Robb wondered out loud putting his head in his hands

"listen to me" Talisa lifted his head up making him look her in the eyes, "you spoke the words it doesn't matter if it was a mistake or not you choose to say the vow and I know that no matter what happens because of it we can face it together"

Robb looked at her for a moment before he pulled her in for a kiss, as the lovers were in their tent Eshan was walking around the camp when he ran in to Lord Bolton, "Lord Bolton" he said bowing slightly

"Eshan" the Lord replied nodding

"where are you going so late" Eshan asked

"I was just on a little walk"

"out of all the northern lords I admire you the most"

"why is that?"

"most of the other lords can barely see past the next battle but you look to the end of this war, you remind me of an older version of myself"

"so then what do you see at the end of this war?"

"hopefully a belly full of food, a cup full of wine and a woman but that is a long way off and I fear some of us will not make it"

"you are a dangerous man much more dangerous than the king or the other lords realise"

"and I realise how dangerous you are lord Bolton, I'll be keeping an eye on you" Eshan walked away and as he did Lord Bolton said

"and I'll keep an eye on you as well"

End of chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The norther army had made it to the Riverlands and the king had gathered his bannermen to decide what to do next, the king sat at the head of the table as the deliberated, "the men are starting to question the cause, we haven't fought the Lannisters in weeks and news of the new Tyrell alliance has them doubting" Lord Karstark said

"it seems we have the Lannisters on the run" Lord Umber laughed

"we don't have them on the run, they are leading us on trying to tire us out" Eshan said, "it is a good tactic and not one many people see until it's too late"

"so then what do you suggest?" Lord Bolton asked Eshan

"we will attack Tywin" the king spoke up before the Volantene could, "we will attack Harrenhal and take out Tywins foot then we will find his army and crush it then Kings landing"

All the lords agreed and the next day the northern army was marching south to Harrenhal, it took a few days for the northerners to get to the cursed castle but when they got there they found nothing, no one, Tywin had left no men to hold the castle. The king walked in to the ruins looking around at all the slaughtered northmen he could only stare as he looked at each of their lifeless faces.

Eshan, Lord Bolton and Lord Karstark walked in behind the king horrified by the sight, "200 northmen slaughtered like sheep" Lord Karstark stated at the sight

"the debt will be repaid my friend for them and for your sons" Lord Bolton told him

"will it, they rot in the ground while their killer runs free" he said looking at Catelyn Stark

"the kingslayer won't remain free for long my best hunters after him" Lord Bolton assured Lord Karstark

"the kingslayer will be dead by the end of this war but you need to control your anger Lord Karstark or I fear you might not survive this war" Eshan said before he got to work cutting down the bodies not giving Lord Karstark a chance to retaliate

As the lords were talking Robb was looking around the bodies with his mother when he came across an old man with a silver eagle on his armour, "the Mallister" Robb said recognising the sigil

"ser Jaremy, my fathers bannerman" Catelyn said staring at the body

Robb let her mourn for a few second before he ordered his men to find her a cell, as his mother was marched off Talisa walked up to the king, "she's your mother" she said

"she freed Jamie Lannister" Robb reminded her and himself, "the Lannisters robbed them of their sons and she robbed them of their justice"

As he said that a man in maesters robes started to cough and call for water, the two rushed over to him and as Robb gave him water Talisa checked his wound and started to dress it, "what's your name friend?"

"Qyburn" he said in a quiet voice

"you're lucky to be alive" Talisa told him

"Lucky" he wondered

The northerners had held the castle for a day and the king was in his chambers with his queen, as the two embraced Lord Bolton entered holding a message, "let me guess god news or bad news" he said

"news from Riverrun" Lord Bolton said

"what is it?" Robb asked

"your Grandfather Hoister Tully has died"

As soon as Lord Bolton said it the king walked out of the room to find his mother and tell, his mother broke down in tears when she heard the news, "I hadn't seen him in years, I can't even remember how many" she said wiping her eyes

"we will travel to the funeral together, Lord Bolton will Garrison here until we return"

"will I be wearing chains when I lay my father to rest?" she asked but Robb had no answer for her

"we will be leaving tomorrow" he said before leaving his mother to greave

The next day the northern army had left Harrenhal and was marching north to Riverrun, on the road there the king had stopped to watch the men march when Lord Karstark rode up next to him, "we're at war this march is a distraction" he commented as they watched the men go by

"my grandfather's funeral is not a distraction" the king told him

"we riding to battle at Riverrun?" karstark asked

"no" the king answered

"then it's a distraction"

"my uncle Edmure has forces there we need them"

"unless he's bee breeding them he doesn't have enough to make a difference"

"have you lost faith in our cause?" Robb asked

"if it's revenge I still got faith in it" the Lord told Robb

"if you no longer believe…"

"I can believe till it snows in Dorne" Karstark interrupted, "don't change the fact we got half the men"

"you don't think we can win"

"may I speak my mind your grace?"

"have you not been speaking your mind lord Karstark"

"I think you lost this war the day you married her and let that foreigner sit at your table" Lord Karstark said nodding to Talisa and Eshan as they rode next to each other before he rode off himself

The army had set up camp for the night and the king sat in his tent alone thinking on what Lord Karstark had told him when Eshan walked in, "your grace" he said sitting opposite the king

"what do you want?" he asked

"you seemed distant Talisa asked me to talk to you" Eshan got up and poured them both some wine, "what is going on"

"I fear my Bannermen might abandon me, the cause is starting to seem lost to some" Robb said taking the drink

"from what I've seen the northmen are stupidly loyal they'll follow a corpse in to battle if it has the name Stark"

"so what would you suggest, my fearless advisor"

"you can't stop this war the Lannisters won't let you, the only way to end it is to win or die and if you die then I die and I won't let that happen so here's to our victory" Eshan raised his goblet and Robb rose his to meet, "the king in the north"

"the king in the north" Robb said before he downed his drink, "so Eshan do you have a plan to defeat Tywin?"

"I have one but for now that is unimportant we have the Freys to deal with"

"they are ten time scarier than Tywin" Robb joked

"and that's just their women" Eshan and the king burst out laughing as they spent the rest of the night drinking

End of chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Robb stark waded in to the river with his grandfather's funeral boat on his shoulder, he pushed it off in to the current of the red fork before returning to his mother's side and watching it float away. Edmure, the new lord of Riverrun, stepped out and readied a flaming arrow; he drew it back, loosed it and missed the boat causing the crowd to murmur slightly, he tried again and missed then a third time before the blackfish pushed him out of the way and did it himself. Robb stood by his mother and watched as the boat burned and drifted out of sight.

Robb looked out at the river he had just pushed his grandfather in to as his uncle and great uncle entered the room, "if I may nephew I encountered a situation with one of my lieutenants at the stone mill that may have some barring on th…"

"why don't you shut your mouth about that damn mill" the blackfish interrupted Edmure, "and don't call him nephew he's your king"

"I meant him no disrespect…"

"you're luck I'm not your king" Blackfish interrupted him again, "I wouldn't let you wave your blunders around like a victory flag"

"my blunder sent Tywins mad dog running back to Casterly rock with his tail between his legs" demure stood up to the blackfish, "I think king Robb understands we won't be winning this war if he's the only one winning battles, there's glory enough to go around"

"it's not about glory" the king spoke up as he turned to look at the two, "your instructions were to wait for him"

"I seized an opportunity" Edmure defended himself

"what value was the mill?" Robb asked staring his uncle dead in the eyes

"the Mountain was garrisoned across the river from it"

"is he there now?"

"of course not, we took the fight to him he could not withstand us"

"I wanted to draw the Mountain into the west, into our country where we could surround him and kill him" the king explained, "I wanted him to chase us as he would of done as he is a mad dog without a strategic thought in his head, I could have that head on a spike instead I have a mill"

"we took hostages Willem Lannister Martyn Lannister" Edmure argued

"Willem and Martyn Lannister are 14 years old" the king said

"Martyn is 15" the blackfish corrected the king

The king advanced on the Riverlord, "Tywin Lannister has my sisters have I sued for peace?" he asked

"no" Edmure answered

"do you think he'll sue for peace because we have his fathers brothers great grandsons?"

"no" Edmure answered holding his head down

"how many men did you lose?"

"208 but for every man we lost the Lannisters lost…"

"WE NEED OUR MEN MORE THAT TYWIN NEEDS HIS" the king shouted

"I'm sorry I didn't know" Edmure apologized

"you would of right here today at this gathering if you had been patient" the king walked back to the window and looked down at the river below

Down in the cells of Riverrun Eshan looked over Talisa as she dressed the Lannister boys wounds, "you're Robb Starks wife" Martyn notices as she is seeing to him, "is it true what they say about him?"

"I don't know what do they say about him?" she asked

"that he can turn in to a wolf at night"

"from the sound coming from their tent at night I'd say it's true" Eshan joked

"and that he eats the flesh of his enemies"

"no that's me I get a bit hungry on the battlefield" Eshan joked again as Talisa shot him a look

"you're a Lannister aren't you?"

"Martyn Lannister"

"Martyn Lannister, you have nothing to fear my husband doesn't eat children unless it's a full moon" she said before turning the Eshan and asking, "it's not a full moon tonight is it?"

"yes it is and Robb loves to eat children when it's a full moon so I'm sorry"

"he's only joking I'll make sure he doesn't eat you"

Talisa finished dressing the wounds and the two walked out, as Eshan passed the guard a slip of paper and continued walking with Talisa, "I sent a letter to you mother" Talisa told him as they walked up the stairs

"and why did you do that?" he asked

"I knew you wouldn't send one and she is worried about you"

"what did you tell her?"

"I told her that the war is going well and that you are a big help"

"well I think I am about to make some big contributions to the war effort"

"what are you planning?"

"nothing dangerous if that is what you're asking" Eshan said as they stopped outside her door, " have other matters to attend to, your grace"

Talisa watched him walk away and wondered what he was up to but decided to trust him and put it out of her mind.

The next day Robb called all his generals for a meeting, all the lords and Eshan sat around a table as the king paced back and forth in front of them, "could you stop that" Eshan broke the silence

"we are losing this war; Tywin has the numbers, the money and time" The king began pacing again

"Tywin is in Kings landing" Eshan told the king

"that is the problem we can't fight him there" Lord Umber said

"then we just need to draw him out"

"and how do we do that?" Edmure asked

"why don't we send him the heads of those Lannisters we have" Lord Karstark suggested

"we are not executing children" the king said

"mercy doesn't get you anything your grace and we need to send Tywin a message" Lord Karstark said

"WE ARE NOT EXECUTING CHILDREN!" the king slammed his hands on the table

"and besides Lord Karstark tywin won't do anything if we send him their head, the only head that would force him in to action is his sons" Eshan said

"unfortunately someone let the king slayer go" Lord Karstark looked at the king as he said that

"we can't kill the children so how do we draw Tywin out?" the blackfish asked

"we attack Casterly rock" Eshan suggested

"we don't have the men for something like that" Edmure told Eshan

"we took out most of the forces in the Westerlands last time we were there and now only a small force protects Casterly rock with the Frey and Tully forces we can do it"

"but first we need to deal with the Freys" Robb said as he sat

For the rest of the meeting Eshan tried to avoid the murderous glare of Lord Karstark. The meeting ended and Lord Karstark was the first to leave clearly angry with the kings decision to show the Lannister boys mercy and to forgive his mother for freeing the king slayer.

The next day early in the morning a guard stood outside the Lannister boys cell when Lord Karstark marched down the stairs and to the door flanked by two men, all with weapons drawn, the Guard stood up straight as the lord looked him in the eye and asked for him to step aside.

"what are you here to do me lord?" the guard asked not moving

"I'm here to do what our king can't, Tywin Lannister needs to know what it feels like to lose two of his own" Karstark told him, "now move aside"

The guard stepped to the side and Karstark threw open the cell door to find nothing, karstark put his blade to the guards neck, "where are they?"

"I… I…I don't know me lord honest" the guard stuttered

"I moved them, I was afraid you might try something and I was right" Lord Karstark turned around to find Eshan flanked by two of his own men

"where are those Lannister boys?"

"I will not let you hurt those boys Lord Karstark, this is not what you want to do"

"how would you know what I want to do foreigner"

"those boys didn't kill your sons Jamie Lannister did"

"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY SONS" the lord screamed, "now where are they?"

"go back to your quarters Lord Karstark and the king doesn't have to know about this"

The angry lord turned and walked away, as soon as he was sure the lord was gone Eshan went to the cell at the very end, "I'm going to ask his grace to set you free but don't get your hopes up" he told the two boy sitting in there

"well thank you for protecting us" Martyn said

"I'll make sure that he won't come back" Eshan said before he closed the door and left the cells

End of chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The king in the north sat with his mother, uncle and the blackfish on one side of a table and opposite them were two of Walder Freys sons, Lothar Frey and Black Walder, the two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while before Lothar got to business, "our father has told us that our alliance with the north can continue if his demands are met, he requires a formal apology for your violation of your oath to marry one of his daughters"

"of course he deserves as much I was in the wrong" Robb said

"as restitution for this betrayal he demands Harrenhal and all its attendant lands" Black Walder told them

"I don't th…"

"we are fighting for the north Harrenhal is not in the north" Robb cut his uncle off, "and it is his once the war is over and we have no further need of it"

"and there is something else" Black Walder spoke up

"we will do whatever we can to give Lord Frey what he needs" Robb told them

"not what who" Black Walder looked at Edmure

"what" Edmure looked around at everyone staring at him before he got it and started to disagree

"our father requires Lord Edmure to wed on of his daughters Roslin"

"how old is she?" he asked

"19" was his answer

"can I see her first?" Edmure asked

"you want to count her teeth?" Black Walder asked in reply, "we leave in the morning, we need an answer by then and a wedding not a fortnight after or this alliance is at an end"

"your father does realise we are at war?" blackfish asked

"father is old it would put his at peace if he could see her wed to a good husband" Lothar said

"and his recent experience has made him wary of long engagements" Black Walder finished

"please excuse us while we discuss it" Robb said as the two left the room

"why should I let that old ferret choose my bride at the very least I should be offered the same choice as you" Edmure started to protest as soon as the door closed behind the two

"he is proud and we have wounded him" Robb said

"I didn't wound him my answer is no"

Blackfish stood up from his chair and walked over to Edmure, "listen to me and listen carefully you…."

"the laws of gods and men are clear no man can compel another man to marry" Edmure interrupted the blackfish

"the laws of my fist are about to compel your teeth"

"it's alright you heard him" Robb broke the two up, "if you refuse our alliance with the Freys is dead"

"he's wanted me for his daughters since I was 12 he won't stop now" Edmure told them, "he will come back and offer me the same choice you had"

"you want to risk our lives for the chance at a prettier wife" Catelyn said

"I have a war to fight, we can't win it without them and I have no time to haggle" Robb looked his uncle in the eyes, "you said you wanted to make amends for the stone mill"

"I had something less permanent in mind"

"I have won every battle but I am losing this war, if we don't do this then we are lost" Edmure held his head down before he finally gave in and agreed, "you're paying for my sins uncle it's not fair or right, I'll remember it"

Robb walked out of the room to find Eshan waiting for him "so how did it go your grace?" he asked as he followed the king

"the alliance can continue but Edmure must marry one of Freys daughters"

"well he must not be happy about that"

"we managed to convince him but I still don't like our chances even with the Freys"

"don't worry Robb, leave that to me" Eshan told him, "didn't I say I would win you this war"

"then get to it" Robb said before leaving the Volantene, "we leave tomorrow morning"

The army had been marching for the twins for about a week, the rain had slowed them down, when Robb called Eshan in to his tent, "what is it?" Eshan asked as he entered and sat opposite the king who looked like he had lost sleep

"I have been worried about this for a few days" the king told him

"I told you to stop doing that but what is it?" Eshan asked genuinely worried about the king

"Talisa told me that she is pregnant"

"well her mother will love that"

"I need to ask you a favour if I am to die in battle…"

"then you want me to protect Talisa and your child in case your bannermen won't follow them" Eshan cut the king off, "I would have done so without you asking"

"how did you guess that I would ask?" Robb asked

"it was obvious but didn't I tell you that your bannermen would follow anything with the name Stark even a baby" Eshan watched as the king chuckled a little, "just don't die your grace I fear I'm the only one who would have to flee"

"only if you promise not to die either, I need someone to make me laugh" Robb joked

"is that all I am to you, your grace, a jester" Eshan looked offended

"well you could be entertainment at the wedding"

The two talked for a while before Eshan left to practise with his men leaving the king to his thoughts.

The northern army had reached the twins and Robb stood before Walder Frey and his children apologising for breaking his oath and holding himself back as Lord Walder made jokes about his wife but he managed to get through it and Walder accepted his apology and granted the hospitality.

That night the ceremony was held. Robb stood at the front as he watched Walder Frey lead a veiled figure up the aisle, Walder stopped in front of Edmure and removed the veil allowing him to finally see his beautiful bride, she bowed before him, "Lord Edmure I hope I am not a disappointment to you" she said

Edmure stood her up and looked her in the eye, "you're a delight to me my lady" as soon as he said that the ceremony began but Robb spent most of the time looking at Walder Frey who was staring right back at him

After the ceremony had concluded everyone attended the wedding feast; there was music, dancing, laughter and conversation but the entire time Robb Stark could fell Walder Freys eyes on him even as he laughed with his bride.

"where is Eshan?" Talisa asked, "he would love this"

"really would he? He didn't strike me as the party type" Robb said

"not when he's sober, I remember one founding day after a few too many he attempted to climb the black walls" she recalled laughing

"did he make it?" Robb asked laughing at the story

"no he barely got a foot off the ground before he fell down and we had to carry him home"

The couple were laughing together when Lord Walder called for the bedding ceremony to which Robb agreed and watched as his uncle and his uncles bride were carried off with their clothes being thrown as they went. After the two had been carried out of the Talisa commented on how starnge the custom was.

"well it would seem strange from a foreigners prospective" the king replied

"so it's normal to you?" she asked

"it's tradition" he told her, "without the bedding ceremony there is no real proof the lord and lady consummated their marriage"

"there are other ways of providing proof" Talisa said putting Robbs hand on her belly

"boy or girl?" Robb asked

"I don't know" Talisa admitted, "but if it is a boy I know what we should name him"

"do you?" Robb asked slightly amused, "I think a father should have some say in his sons naming"

"Eddard" she told him the name catching him off guard, "don't you want to teach little Ned Stark how to ride"

"I do" he said before pulling her in for a kiss

That was when he heard the doors to the hall shut and the music suddenly change, "rains of Castermere" he thought, "a bit dark for a wedding"

Lord Walder stopped the music and addressed Robb directly, "your grace, I feel I've been remiss in my duties I have given you meat and wine and music but I haven't shown you the hospitality you deserve, my king has married and I own my new queen a wedding gift"

As the feast was going on out in the corridors Eshan was marching towards the hall with half his men when they bumped in to the blackfish, "what are you doing?" he asked looking at the fully armoured men suspiciously

"I need you to trust me, can you do that?" Eshan asked, "we don't have much time"

"what do you need me to do?" the blackfish asked sensing the seriousness of the situation

"get together as many non Frey or Bolton men as you can and disarm the Bolton and Frey men" Eshan told him, "and release Grey wind"

"fine you can count on me" the blackfish walked off to get his sword

Eshan marched off and as they started to hear the feast they heard the doors shut and rushed to get there.

Robb looked up at Walder Frey as he spoke and felt that something was not right and as lord Frey finished his speech he heard his mother slap Lord Bolton and the doors to the hall burst open and Eshan and his man marched in fully armed.

"what is the meaning of this?" Walder asked as the musicians were killed

"take all the Frey men in to custody make sure none of them get away" Eshan ordered as his men grabbed all the Frey men as threw them to the floor

"what is the meaning of this?" Robb asked as Eshan marched past him

"I believe you should be asking that to Lord Bolton" his mother said, "he is wearing mail"

"it seems that Lord Bolton and Lord Frey were planning to kill you and everyone in this room" Eshan told Robb

"we found crossbows" one of Eshans men shouted down holding one up

"and we found knives" another man pulled a knife out of one of the Frey men's' sleeves

"what is the meaning of this Lord Frey?" Robb asked looking at the old man

"this is ridiculous he planted all of those" Walder protested

"fine then let's interrogate one of his sons" Eshan snapped his fingers and Walders Eldest, Stevron, was brought before him and Eshan put his blade to the Freys throat , "tell me Stevron what was your father planning?"

"he was going to kill the king and collect a reward from Tywin Lannister" the man shook fearing for his life

"thank you" Eshan lowered his blade before he turned to Walder, "now Lord Frey I think you are guilty of treason along with Lord Bolton here"

Eshan paced around the now restrained Lord Bolton, "you think you scare me boy" Walder looked down on them

"I would fear the judgment of our king instead" Eshan turned to Robb who had been standing there taking it all in

"Lord Walder Frey in the sight of gods and men I condemn you to die for the crime of treason against the crown" as Robb said it he took a sword and marched up to Walder and then he sliced the old mans throat

"why did you betray us Eshan?" Lord Bolton spoke up, "we were in this together, you came up with the plan"

"I was always planning to betray you I only joined you to know what exactly your plan was and to earn the respect of the Bolton men" Eshan explained his plan

"my men will still slaughter half the northern army"

"no I had the blackfish and half my men take care of them and with you dead I'll tell them the plan went horribly wrong and that they should follow me and pretend to have no knowledge of the plot keeping the army intact and all traitors dead" Eshan told him as he walked closer to the lord

"then it seems I didn't play my card right" Lord Bolton said before Eshan stabbed him in his gut

End of chapter 10


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Robb watched as the Freys were dragged out of the hall in chains, he still couldn't believe what almost happened a few moments ago, "you ok" Eshan broke the kings thought

"I'm fine just can't believe that Roose would betray me like that" the king said looking at the spot Lord Bolton died

"don't worry your grace he is dead and we have a war to win"

"just promise you won't betray me"

"even if the whole world abandons you I will be on your side"

"so my fearless advisor what advice do you have for me now" Robb cracked a small smile

"I will make sure that the Bolton forces still march with you but you need to split them between everyone except me and make sure you make that part clear" Eshan advised

"Why?" the king asked

"I can keep my involvement in foiling the plot a secret so to the Bolton men I'm the only surviving plotter and their leader so I need you to be at least a little suspicious of me"

"so while my bannermen will lead them in battle you will control them behind the scenes keeping them in check"

"that's right your grace just remember to keep a close eye on them from now on"

The conversation between the two was interrupted when the Blackfish marched in to the hall and declared, "I have something you might want to see your grace"

"what is it?" Robb asked as two men dragged a huge man in chains with a sack over his head

The sack was pulled off to reveal an ugly man with a scar on half his face, "the hound" Robb said

"he also had a companion you might want to see" as the Blackfish said this a girl ran in and stopped staring at the king both frozen before she ran right in to him nearly pushing him to the floor

The king pulled her off him and looked at her properly, "Arya, is that you?" the king asked near tears not believing his eyes

The girl didn't answer she just threw her arms around robs neck not letting go until Robb pulled her off and asked her how she escaped Kings landing and she told him everything from Yoren smuggling her out of the city as a boy to being captured by the Lannisters and escaping thanks to the help of a faceless man, Robb listen to everything she had to say until their mother arrived back in the hall.

When Catelyn had heard that Arya had been found she could barely believe it she didn't even wait for the guard she ran through the twin somehow knowing where to find her daughter, she stopped at the doors to the hall when she saw Robb kneeling in front of a child listening to them until they stopped and turned letting Catelyn see her face, Catelyn couldn't hold back her tears as she pulled the girl in to a vice like hug and held her there not saying anything.

"I think you need sometime alone" Eshan told the king before leaving

Catelyn released Arya, "do you know what happened to Sansa?" she asked

"last I saw her she was still in Kings landing I don't know what happened to her" Arya told her mother

"what about you dog?" Robb turned to the hound who was still in chains, "you serve that bastard Joffrey"

"I left the kings service I want to join you, your grace" the Hound said

"how can we trust you?" Robb asked

"I brought you your sister I could have easily brought her back to Kings landing for a bigger reward"

"you were in Kings landing you must have seen Sansa, what happened to her" Catelyn demanded information

"last I saw her she was alive" the hound answered

"what did Joffrey do to her?" Robb asked

"after your victory at the Whispering wood he had her beaten in front of the court"

"and what else?" Robb asked needing to hear this

"he would make her stare at Lord Starks head for hours just to amuse him" as the hound said this Robb could feel himself shake with rage

"what else" Robb demanded barely keeping his anger in check

"last I heard she was married to Tyrion Lannister"

Robb smashed his fist on a nearby table splintering it, "I will march on Casterly rock, I will burn it to ash and then I will take Joffrey's head"

As that was happening Eshan was meeting with the Bolton lieutenants, "what happened?" one of them asked

"we were made I just managed to save myself but Lord Bolton was killed" Eshan told them

"how did he die?" another asked

"Robb Starks men burst in to the hall before we could kill them I had to kill Lord Bolton to keep my involvement a secret"

"so you killed him" the lieutenant said clearly angry

"I had to other wise I would be dead and so would you, lord Bolton understood that"

"Lord Bolton told us that if it didn't go well and he died we should follow you, so what do we do"

"we need to not draw attention our way, Robb Stark will divide your forces among his bannermen to stop any scheming but I won't get a share, he still suspects me so just act like you didn't know anything and follow orders"

"you want us to follow him after what he did?"

"if we don't he will have us all killed so just do as you're told and I'll come up with something else" Eshan turned and walked away but stopped, "and if any of you disobey me I will kill you"

The Volantene walked around the camp until he was told of a war council he had to attend. Eshan walked in to the war tent to find all the Lords and the king already seated, he took his seat and the king began, "this recent tracery by Lord Bolton mean that there might be traitors amongst the Bolton men so to stop any scheming I will split the forces between all my bannermen"

"that is well and good" Lord Umber spoke up, "but what do we do now?"

"the mountain has fled to Casterly rock we will follow him and take the Lannisters seat, with our men the siege won't be long" the king declared his plan in front of everyone

End of chapter 11


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The northern army left for Casterly rock as soon as they could happy to leave the bridge behind. The army had been marching for a week and were now camped on the river tumblestone, Eshan was walking through the camp when he spotted an angry looking Arya being escorted by two men, "where are you taking the princess?" Eshan asked the two

"she was caught trying to sneak in to the prisoner pens, Lady Stark asked us to escort her to her tent"

"I'll take her from here you two are dismissed" Eshan told them and the soldiers left them, "you were trying to see the hound?"

"I was trying to set him free" Arya admitted

"your brother will free him in time you just need to be patient"

"why can't he just release him?" Arya asked as Eshan stopped by the river

"your brother has a war to fight, he doesn't have time to think he only has time to act"

"why did this have to happen?" Arya asked no one really as she sat on the bank

"ambition" Eshan answered simply

"what?"

"this war was caused by ambition, by people who want to reach higher and as consequence all around them suffer"

"so are the gods punishing us?" Arya asked looking up at the Volantene

"I don't believe in gods but if they do exist they would punish those who want to climb higher"

"Robb is trying to become a king shouldn't the gods punish him?"

"they tried and I stopped them, that's the one thing about gods they don't seem to be able to stop us from trying to climb and are powerless if we have an unbreakable will" the two looked out over the river for a bit before Eshan picked her up, "I have a war council to get to so you need to get to your tent"

"wait can't I sit in on the council?" Arya asked

"I don't think that is a good idea princess"

"well as your princess I command you to let me in to the war council"

"then as you command princess follow me"

Arya followed Eshan to the tent and walked in behind him, she felt unconfutable when all the lords looked at her with odd looks as she brought up a chair and sat next to Eshan, "what is my sister doing here?" Robb asked breaking the silence

"the princess commanded me to bring her so I did" Eshan explained

"so do you take orders from a little girl now" Lord Umber said causing the room to erupt in laughter

"that aside this is no place for a woman send her back to her tent" Lord Karstark said

"I will not go" Arya said

"unless you're afraid of little girls Lord Karstark we have more pressing matters to discuss" Eshan said

"fine Arya you can stay just try to keep quiet" Robb relented then turned his attention to the map sitting on the table, "what about out attack on Casterly rock"

"the mountain only has a few hundred men left, he would have to surrender or be slaughtered" Lord Umber said

"he would probably chose slaughter but I have sent a messenger to demand his surrender" Eshan told Robb

"do you think we can take the castle before Tywin reaches us?" Robb asked staring at the map

"we have the men but I still think it is a bad idea to march with the Frey and Bolton men they tried to kill you at my own wedding" Edmure spoke up

"I know but we need the men and we have the Freys lord and the Boltons are split amongst you all they can't coordinate an attack" Robb reassured his bannermen

"that aside we need to discuss our move Casterly rock" Eshan told the king

"what do you think it should be?" Robb asked the foreigner

"there is still a large Tyrell force in the Reach if Tywins forces meet up with them then we will be in trouble"

"so you think we need to invade the reach and deal with the Tyrell force?" Lord Karstark asked

"we should take the searoad south to old oak the forces from Highgarden should come to try and destroy us before we reach Highgarden"

"for our intelligence the force at Highgarden is only 30,000 men and they probably don't know our numbers" Lord Umber said

"that is a sounds good but what if they just hide in Highgarden then we would have to push further in to the Reach and could be cut off from the north by Tywin" Robb pointed out

"Randyll Tarly leads the forces from what I hear he is a brilliant battlefield commander but he is a bit too eager in battle" Eshan replied, "he would want to impress the Tyrells and Tywin by defeating the rebellious northerners by himself and I don't doubt he could defeat our men with his 30,000"

"then why would we face him in battle?" the blackfish asked

"because he could defeat us but the chances of that are slim but enough to get him to try"

"fine then we will be arriving at Casterly rock in just over a week once we burn their precious home to the ground we will cut the head off every damn Lannister we find" Robb declared as his bannermen cheered

A week later Eshan sat next to the king as the two watched from horse back as the gates of Casterly rock fell, "KING IN THE NORTH" Robb shouted as he drew his sword and charged towards the gate

"KING IN THE NORTH" Eshan screamed riding after him hoping to not get hit by an arrow

The Volantene was soon through the gate and in the thick of it stabbing down on the Lannister men, as he was making his way through the crowd a sword came out of it just missing him but hitting his horse, throwing him off, Eshan hit the ground but was soon on his feet and blocking a sword destined for his throat.

Eshan pushed his way through with about 10 men and managed to make it in to the keep, "we need to find the mountain I didn't see him by the gate" he told them before he went further in with them in tow

They walked to the end of the corridor when a blade appeared around a corner barley giving Eshan enough time to block, the soldier jumped out and attempted to run Eshan through before he could recover but one of the northmen parried giving Eshan the opening to run him through. The group continued through the castle, searching everywhere, but they couldn't find a trace of the mountain as they made it to the great hall the king called out to Eshan

"I didn't see you in the battle" Robb said as he sat down to rest in the lords chair

"I was looking for the mountain he didn't seem to be on the battle field" Eshan told him as he walked to the kings side

"did you find him?" Robb asked

"no what about you?" Eshan asked back

"no he must of escaped and made his way back to Tywin" Robb sighed before he stood, "take anything of value and then burn this place to the ground"

"yes your grace" Eshan immediately walked over to one of the many lion banners hanging in the hall and tore it down

The northern army spent hours taking anything of any value or use in war and completely destroying the castle. Eshan walked out of the gate and up to the king carrying more gold than he could carry, "what you looking at?" Eshan asked looking up at the gate to see three male lions and a female dripping with blood and hanging from the gate, "where did you find those?"

"they were in cages below Casterly rock and I thought this would be the perfect message to send Tywin" Robb told him

"what happened to that one?" Eshan asked pointing out that one of the males had its right paw missing

"it lashed out so we had to cut it off"

"well we should go your grace there is nothing left here" Eshan said turning to walk back to camp struggling to keep the gold form spilling

End of chapter 12


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Tywin sat in his war tent with all his commanders around him as they marched through the Riverlands to Casterly rock, they were eating when a messenger entered the tent, "what do you want boy?" Tywin asked looking him up and down

"I'm sorry my lord but Robb Stark has sacked Caster…"

Tywin cut him off not wanting to hear it, he was shaking with rage and all his commanders stayed silent out of fear, "we should march north and bur…" one of the commander started but Tywin stopped him with the raise of a hand

"we will fight Robb Stark in the field" Tywin said turning to the messenger "where is he heading now?"

"his army was last seen heading down the searoad" the boy told him

"he's heading to Highgarden to stop Randyll Tarly from meeting up with us" Tywin deduced, "send a raven to Randyll and tell him the young wolf is on his way"

"now we need to…" another commander spoke up but Tywin stood up and walked out of the tent commenting that he needed some sleep

Meanwhile across Westeros the princess slept, having a vivid dream she dreamed that she led hundreds of wolves through the forest, she was chasing a deer and closing the distance but as she leapt about to take it down she opened her eyes and found herself in her tent.

As she walked out in to the morning air Arya wondered if she should tell her brother about her dreams but she decided against it knowing he had more important things to think about besides her bad dreams, she had heard that they were a few days away from Old oak and a few days away from a battle that she wouldn't even be able to watch thanks to her mother. Arya finished her breakfast then decided to try and see the hound again but when she got to the prisoner pens she found he wasn't in any of them and she searched every one.

"your brother called for him a few minutes before you arrived" she turned to see Eshan standing behind her, "he might still be there"

Arya ran across the camp to her brothers tent, right past the guard and went inside to find a chained up hound in front of her brother, "DON'T KILL HIM" Arya shouted

"I was thinking about it but Eshan told me that since you were his prisoner he should be yours so his fate is in your hands sister" Robb told her as she turned to the hound

"then I sentence you to be the princesses personal sword" Arya said shocking everyone but Robb chuckled

"fine then I, Robb Stark, sentence you, Sandor Clegane, to serve as my sisters personal sword, protect her and fight on her behalf" Robb sentenced him

"well it's better than getting my head cut off" the hound commented as a guard removed his shackles

Over the next few days Robb marched on Old oak, which surrendered without a fight, and was on his way towards Highgarden and every night Arya would have the same dream but this time it was slightly different as she was running through the forest she stopped and looked out of the forest to see a great castle on a hill sitting on a river, it had high towers and she could smell the roses from miles away but before she could see more she opened her eyes and she was back in her tent.

Arya stormed out of her tent annoyed and the hound followed close behind, the princess walked in to the nearby forest to practise with her needle. She had been there for hours when she heard, "what you doing out here princess"

Arya turned to see Eshan leaning on an annoyed hound, "I'm practicing" Arya told him

"braavosi water dancing" Eshan noted as he walked up to her, "how good are you?"

"well take out your sword" she said to him

"won't need to" he said standing in front of her

Arya shrugged it off and thrust at him but before she could blink her sword knocked out of the volantenes way and he had a knife at her throat, "how did you do that?" she asked as he removed the knife

"something I learned, it's Yi tish circle fighting" he told her, "my father hired a Yi tish master to teach me and that's a little of what I learned"

"my brother said you weren't a good fighter"

"with swords I'm bad but with my hands I'm not so bad"

"well can you teach me?" Arya asked

"sure the first thing about circle fighting is you never block, you redirect or dodge, you need to be constantly on the move trying to get around your enemy and when you do you strike quick and hard" Eshan explained showing her the movements

The two practised for hours until the sun went down and they had to return to camp, every day for the next few days the princess would sneak out of camp and go practice with the Volantene except for the day before the battle when Eshan had to sit in a war council to prepare for the battle.

"we will meet Randyll Tarly tomorrow sometime around noon here" Lord Glover told everyone pointing to a field on the map

"do you think we can defeat him in open battle?, lord Umber" Robb asked staring at the map

"I have no doubt but there will be many casualties" Lord Umber told the king

"I have a plan" Eshan announced

"what is it?" Robb asked

"if we position our cavalry behind these hills here the…."

"that is too far away for them to be of any use" Lord Karstark interrupted

"that's why we faint a retreat and when they give chase we draw them towards the hills and our cavalry will flank them cutting off an escape" Eshan explained

"they would be disorganised and ripe for the slaughter" The king declared

End of chapter 13


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Eshan sat on a horse next to the king looking out over the field at the opposing force, they stood between their front line infantry and their archers, "are you sure this will work?" the king asked gripping his reigns nervously

"I am sure" he said when he noticed the enemy charging, "NOCK!"

The archer put their arrows in their bow, "DRAW!" he shouted as they drew the string back

"LOOSE" Eshan shouted before the arrows flew over his head and in to the approaching force

"LOOSE" he repeated again and again as they got closer and closer

The two sides clashed with the font line forming a shield wall but according to plan it soon buckled and the Reach forces were breaking the formation as soon as it seemed Randyll was winning the king called for his men to fall back and retreat, the entire army turned and ran following their king and as they predicted their enemy gave chase to finish off as many as they could. The army reached the hills and a soon as their enemy had passed through them the king blew a horn and their cavalry rushed over the hill and in to the unsuspecting enemy with the force confused from the surprise attack Robb charged back in to battle with his army.

The battle was going well with the Randyll's forces trapped between the two northern forces and victory seemed imminent that was until Randyll Tarly blew a horn and out of seemingly nowhere cavalry charged in and clashed with the northern cavalry forcing them to retreat this allowed the Reach forces to reorganize and mount a defence against the northmen, pushing them back.

"we need to do something" Robb said as he parried a spear heading for him

"we don't have anything else we should retreat for real this time" Eshan said, "they might not give chase in case it was another trick"

"we need to defeat him he…" the king was interrupted by howling coming from the nearby forest

Back at the northern camp the princess, mad about not getting to see the battle, went to her tent for a nap and she had the dream about being a wolf again and this time she was in her pack watching two armies clash, as she watched she recognised her brother and Eshan and realised that she was watching the battle going on right now. She watched as her brother led their enemy in to a trap and then as the enemy sprung a trap of their own, she watched until she realised they needed help, "what can I do?" she thought before she remembered that she led an army

"KING IN THE NORTH" she shouted but it came out as a howl as she ran towards the battle with her pack behind her

Robb looked up as he saw hundreds of wolves charging towards them, everyone was stunned not knowing what to think, and before anyone knew it the pack was ripping out the throats of the reachmen giving the northmen the time reform and start slaughtering the reachmen with the wolves. The battle went on for about ten minutes before the few hundred reachmen that remained broke and fled with the wolves going after them.

"I found something else" Eshan joked as he fell on to his horse exhausted

"I don't think that was you" Robb said riding up next to him

"they didn't kill any northmen" Eshan commented as he watched the wolves eat the bodies of their fallen enemies

"stran…" the king trailed off when he noticed two wolves he recognised, "LADY, NYMERIA!"

The king dismounted and ran to the two before he kneeled to get a good look at them, "you know them?" Eshan asked as he dismounted next to the king

"they are my sisters wolves I knew Arya sent hers away but I thought my father killed Lady" Robb said as he scratched their heads, "it seems they saved us"

"well I think this means your sister has an army of wolves" Eshan said no quite believing it

"we should get back to camp I think Arya would want to reunite with her wolf" Robb said as he watched Grey wind play with his sisters

Arya watched as the men returned from the battle, watching them march past her and her mother the dream she had of leading wolves in to battle still fresh in her mind; the blood, the screams of the men she killed with her own teeth, the chaos and the noise, she couldn't get it out of her mind until she heard a familiar bark and turned to see her brother and her wolf, she ran to Nymeria and fell to her knees hugging the wolf, "where did you find her?" she asked looking up at her brother

"she saved us in the battle" Robb told her, "she led hundreds of wolves in to save us when we were in a tight spot"

The dream Arya had burst back in to her mind she was about to say something when she heard, "don't forget about her sister"

Arya turned to see Eshan riding with another direwolf next to him, "LADY!" Arya ran to the other wolf not believing what he was seeing, "I thought father killed her"

"it seem he didn't, he probably chased her off and was going to come back for her once he left Kings landing" Eshan said as he dismounted and started to scratch the wolfs ear, "and she seems to love me"

"then you can look after her until we get Sansa back" Robb said walking up to the pair, "now come on I have something to talk to you about"

"excuse me princess" Eshan stood up giving Lady one last scratch before he followed the king

Eshan followed the king in to his tent and sat opposite him as the king fell in to his chair finally relaxing, "we now have an army of wolves in our ranks" Robb said not quite believing it

"well you are the young wolf you should have a pack" Eshan joked

"that is not what I wanted to talk to you about" Robb sat up straight getting serious

"what is it your grace?" Eshan asked getting serious as well

"I received a message from the wall they are asking for men to fight a wildling army" Robb explained, "as a Stark I will be disrespecting all my ancestors if I let the wall fall"

"so you want me to go help them" Eshan concluded

"yes, take a thousand men and march north to castle black" Robb told him

"I'll be there and back within the month your grace, just don't fight Tywin without me" Eshan stood to leave but Robb stopped him

"I also need you to get my brother, Jon Snow, you'll find him at castle black, I need you to get him to join me" Robb said

"I don't think I could get him to break his oath and I don't think they'll release him" Eshan said sitting back down

"if you had the authority of a king you could" Robb said

"but I am not a king so I don't have their authority" Eshan said

"then I'll give it to you" Robb stood up as Eshan bowed before him, "you have served me well and loyally, your knowledge and skill have been invaluable in my victories and for that I, Robb Stark, first of his name make you my hand, go to castle black with the authority of the king in the north"

"yes your grace" Eshan left the tent to get his men together

End of chapter 14


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It took Eshan and his thousand men weeks to march all the way to castle black and as they marched up the kings road, almost to castle black, they saw the fires and heard the screams without a second thought Eshan ordered his men to charge the castle all of them finding the strength to run hoping to get there in time to save the nights watch.

The battle had been raging for hours, Jon Snow rested against a beam after killing a Thenn he forced himself up to go look for his sword when he saw Ygritte kneeling there with an arrow for him, he smiled and was about to say something when the gates burst open and men flooded in distracting her with the opportunity Jon tackled her to the ground and disarmed her.

With the reinforcements it didn't take long for the battle on the ground to end with most of the wildlings being taken as prisoners, with the battle over Eshan shouted, "WHO THE FUCK IS IN CHARGE HERE?"

"I am" ser Alliser Thorne stepped forward, "you fly Stark banners but you don't look like you're from the north, who are you?"

"I am Eshan hand of the king to Robb Stark" Eshan told him, "I was sent to help you"

"well you arrived just in time" Thorne said before he turned to clean up the dead

Jon approached the Volantene as he set him men to work cleaning up the mess, "you really hand to my brother?" he asked

"so you're Jon" Eshan said looking the man up and down, "yes I was sent by Robb"

"and here I thought he had forgotten about me" Jon said before he limped off to help with the clean up

The men worked until morning putting out fires and pilling the bodies and as Eshan walked through the work he spotted Jon arguing with Samwell Tarly, as he approached he figured out it was about Jon going to kill Mance Rayder, "have you got a better plan?" Jon asked the speechless Sam

"I do" Eshan announced his presence to the pair as he removed his sword and handed it to Sam, "come on Jon we're going to see this king beyond the wall"

The two walked across the corpse littered snow covered wasteland and in to the still smoking forest, they walked past tents as wildlings surrounded them they held up their hands as they came face to face with Mance Rayder, "we've come to negotiate" Jon told him

Mance invited the two and they sat, Mance and Jon engaged in small talk as Eshan stood at the back, "she weren't enough to turn ya" Mance asked, "were you enough to turn her?"

"she put three arrows in me" Jon told him

"you see her again at castle black?" Mance asked

"yes"

"and"

"she's in chains" Jon told him

"well I suppose it's something we can both drink to" Mance said as cup were filled for the two, Jon looked at it sceptical, "of all the way I could kill you poison would be the last"

The two drank and Jon coughed not being able to take the sour taste, "now you came to negotiate" Mance said

"turn your army around and go home" Jon told him

"you threw everything you have at me last night and it barely put a dent in my forces" Mance looked Jon dead in the eyes, "I have sent 400 men to climb the wall, an unguarded bit about 5 miles east in a day they will be over, the nights watch had barely 100 men how many do you have now? 50? 40?"

"20,000" Eshan spoke up

"I was wondering when the one not dressed in black would speak" Mance said

"I have 20,000 men and know your plan, it doesn't look good for you" Eshan looked Mance in the eyes

"only you know my plan and I don't have to let you leave this tent" Mance told them

"right but I sent 4,000 men out 2,000 east and 2,000 west they will find your climbers and slaughter them and if we don't comeback before nightfall they will flood the tunnel" Eshan smiled at Mance

"then we move to one of the other castles"

"and once the tunnel is sealed 10,000 will travel to Eastwatch and 10,000 to the shadow tower and they will flood the tunnels there as well, this wall will become just that a wall one that your men will all die climbing" Eshan sat in front of Mance

"then we will just attack now you won't be expecting it, we kill you take your clothes and put them on some poor souls that look like you then they'll open the gate"

"how about I propose something else since that won't work" Eshan said

"what is it?" Mance asked

"how many fighting men do you have?" Eshan asked

"just under 100,000 and a few hundred giants and mammoths" Mance answered him

"ok I'll let all your people through the wall, all of them" Eshan told him

"you giving up?" Mance asked

"no we'll let you people through, they will be given lands and bound by the law but all your fighting force will march south with me to join up with my king" Eshan told him

"we're trying to get to the other side to stop fighting" Mance said

"I know you need to escape winter and what it brings but I can't let over 100,000 wildlings cross the wall then go back to my king and tell him what I did, he'd cut off my head then march north to kill all of you"

"but if you bring him them as an army he might let you keep your head" Mance reasoned

"yes so what do you say?" Eshan asked holding out his hand

"I'll have to talk to the clan chiefs but are you sure they will let us pass?" Mance grabbed the hand

"I hold the authority of the king and if they don't listen I have 1,000 men at my command" as Eshan said that Mance cracked a smile

The two waited in Mance's tent as he talked to the clan chiefs, they waited about an hour before he came back, "I have managed to get them all to agree, surprisingly" Mance told them sitting down

"good gather your people and get ready, I'll inform the nights watch of our deal"

The two walked back to the wall, "you sure this is the right thing?" Jon asked Eshan as they walked out of the treeline

"with this many men we can crush the Lannisters and you'll be there with us to keep an eye on them" Eshan told the brother

"I can't march south with you I'm needed here"

"your brother asked me to bring you and I will"

The two walked in silence the rest of the way to the gate and in to castle black, as soon as they got back they went to the castles great hall where all the nights watchmen were waiting, "so you get them to turn around?" Thorne asked

"no you'll let them pass" Eshan told him looking the brother dead on

"you can't be serious, we ar…."

"YOU WILL LET THEM PASS" Eshan interrupted Thorne, "I am the hand of the king so I carry the authority of the king you will let them pass"

"the nights watch doesn't obey a king" Thorne said as most of the nights watch stood behind him

"I have 1,000 men do you think you can fight them and the wildlings?" Eshan asked, "now open that gate and let them pass they'll be here by nightfall"

The brothers of the nights watch looked on as wildling walked past them; all of them, every clan, the Thenns, the ice river clans, the cave dwellers, the hornfoots, the raiders of the frozen shore and the giants. They all crossed the wall leaving the frozen land beyond devoid of any human life.

End of chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Eshan sat in his tent, his wildling army had been marching for about 2 weeks and they were almost in the Riverlands, if they had anything on the soldier of the seven kingdoms it was that they marched through anything, as he sat there Jon walked in to the tent covered in cuts and bruises.

"what happened to you?" Eshan asked as the crow sat opposite him

"I broke up a fight between two of the free folk" he told the Volantene

"and?"

"they stopped but started to fight me"

Eshan laughed, "and where they are now?"

"asleep in the mud"

"impressive Snow" Eshan poured them both cups

"so how long until we meet up with Robb?" he asked

"I was thinking we should head straight for Tywin, we have the men to beat him and if the wildlings do it Robb is more likely to accept them" Eshan told him

"that is true but we don't have the discipline of the Lannister army, there is a chance Tywin could beat us the nights watch did"

"the nights watch had the most defendable position ever and for the last scouts repot Tywin only has about 35,000 men we can overwhelm him"

"true but do you think we can get there before he meets Robb?" Jon asked

"Robb has won every battle but he is far south Tywin will want to tire out his men by leading them on drawing them further south and away from Kings landing" Eshan reasoned

"well let's hope so at the rate we're going it'll take us another week and a half to get to him" Jon finished his wine before he left for his own tent leaving the Volantene alone looking at a map of Westeros

In the Reach the king in the north was frustrated with the chase Tywin Lannister was leading him on, he sat with his bannermen discussing the state of the war, "the men are exhausted with this constant march" Lord Karstark said, "they are starting to believe the cause in hopeless"

"Tywin is leading us as far south as he can he know men will start abandoning the cause soon and if we just march for Kings landing he will attack us from behind" Robb muttered to himself trying to find a way out of the current situation, "we can't garrison in a keep he would just besiege us"

"I have a plan your grace" Lord Umber spoke up

"what is it?" Robb asked desperate

"if we order some men to abandon the cause they Tywin will face us thinking we have reached our breaking point then the forces we sent away can flank the Lannisters" Umber explained

"we would need to do it slowly but it could work"

Over the next week and a bit Robb ordered men in the hundreds to go north towards Highgarden then turn around and slip past the Lannisters, when Robb had lost about 5,000 men he got a message from Tywin challenging him to a battle near Horn hill and he knew Tywin had fallen for it.

Robb marched his remaining men towards Horn hill, it took him a day to reach the field and then form up his ranks opposite the Lannisters in a large wheat field. The two sides charged and clashed, the two side fought for about half an hour before the stark men appeared but something was wrong they started to attack the northern army not the Lannisters.

Tywin sat on his horse watching his plan unfold, "you had a good plan but a few hundred men are easy to defeat" Tywin said to himself, the Lannisters had killed the 'fleeing' northmen and taken their armour to trick the Stark boy, "now we end this stupid war"

As the Stark forces were being pushed back and a Lannister victory seemed certain Robb was panicking, he thought about calling the wolves but they were back at the camp with his sister and her direwolf and he had no more tricks. Robb was about to call for a retreat when he heard the ground shake and thousands of war cries, out of a forest behind the Lannisters thousands of wildlings charged smashing in to the Lannister rear, many men just stood staring as the giants appeared riding mammoths.

As soon as Tywin saw the force appear behind him he ordered a retreat, when his forces had reached their camp he gathered his generals, they all sat in silence avoiding the lords gaze, "what the hell was that?"

The generals stayed silent, still avoiding his gaze, "we had him about to retreat, WHAT HAPPENED!" Tywin slammed his hands on the table

"our scouts didn't say anything about giants we didn't know" one of them spoke up

"we need to march for kings landing immediately and send a messenger tell the king to prepare for a siege" Tywin fell in to his chair feeling incredibly tired

In the Stark camp Robb had Eshan and Jon in his tent, they stood in front of him as he paced, "you let the wildlings in to the north" he said not believing it, "all of them"

"yes" Jon answered

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING" Robb shouted

"they needed to get south of the wall or….."

"they have raped and reeved the north since the wall was put up they are as bad as the Ironborn and you let them in to my kingdom do you know what they will do" Robb lectured

"that's why all their fighting men are here with us they can't destroy the north with women and children" Eshan told the king

"it doesn't matter we will send these savages back beyond the wall"

"look at me brother" Jon grabbed Robb making him look in his eyes, "if you send them back they will die and you'll have to fight something much worse"

"fine they can stay but do not do anything like this again" Robb warned, "now get out of my sight"

Jon left the tent but Eshan stayed where he was, "what do you want?" Robb asked

"I need to talk to you about Kings landing" Eshan told him, "but not here"

Robb followed the Volantene away from the camp to somewhere no one would follow them, a small wooded area, "now what did you want to talk about?"

"I have a plan to take the city but only you and I can know about it everyone else has to be in the dark and you have to play along" Eshan told him as he took a ring off his right hand and gave it to the king

"what is this for?" Robb asked looking at the gold ring with a trident stamp on it

"march to Maidenpool I asked my father to supply us with ships they will be there, the ring will show that I sent you" Eshan said before he explained his plan to the king

"well as long as it gets us in to the keep before they can do anything to my sister"

"don't worry your grace it'll work" Eshan ensured

End of chapter 16


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Tywin sat in the small council chamber with the small council sitting on his left and; Cersei, Tyrion and Joffrey, on his right. They looked over maps of the city, "Robb Stark has no ships so he will have to attack from land meaning her should go for the kings gate that will cut the distance to the Red keep" Tyrion said pointing at the map

"actually the young wolf has acquired ships" Varys said

"how" Tywin asked, "the north doesn't have a fleet"

"it seems the northern king has gain the favour of a merchant company" Varys told the council

"a few merchant ships aren't much to worry about" Joffrey said smugly

"that would be true except he is being backed by the Trident company" Vary said

"they are the biggest merchants in the known world" Tyrion said looking over the map, "they have a fleet bigger than some kingdoms apparently"

"well do you have any good news, Spider?" Joffrey asked

"my little birds do tell me that the Wildling army that helped the young wolf defeat your grandfather has abandoned his cause"

"so his numbers are back down meaning he won't be able to sustain a prolonged siege" Tywin said as he inspected the map, "are we sure this isn't the same tactic he used to try and defeat me?"

"I have got reports of wildling raids in the Reach near the Westerlands and as far as Blackmont" Baelish spoke up, "it seems they are traveling as far from the wall as they can"

"well once I have made Robb Stark watch me burn the north and slaughter his family then I'll drive those savages back to the wall" Joffrey declared as he played with his knife

"well we need to defeat Robb Stark first" Tyrion said as he studied the map more, "he'll probably attack the same way Stannis did going for the Mud gate, we still haven't reinforced that gate"

"then we'll stop them the same way" Joffrey said stabbing his knife in to the table, "we burn them with wildfire"

"we have enough but he mig….."

"then that's what we'll do" Joffrey interrupted his uncle, "I can't wait to hear the northerners screams"

Joffrey left, dismissing the small council as he went, leaving only the three Lannisters in an uncomfortable silence , Tyrion slid his chair out with a screech and jumped off, "you need to find a way to control that boy" Tywin said after Tyrion had left, "or I will"

"he doesn't listen to me" the queen complained, "that Tyrell girl is trying to take him from me"

"you are his mother he has to listen you just need to make sure he knows that" Tywin told her

Cersei was about to speak but Tywin interrupted her, "when you were little you and Jamie would sleep in the same bed after you grew up a bit your mother didn't like what the servants were saying so she put an end to it, if your mother can get her children to obey her then you should be able to"

Cersei left without saying a word, not wanting drag this out any further.

During these events the Young wolf had arrived in Maidenpool after weeks of marching, the king looked out from the shore to see hundreds of ships anchored just off the coast and a small boat rowing to the shore. The king went with a few men to meet them, the boat contained 5 men but 4 of them were guards for the fifth, he was about the same age as Robb's father and had a huge beard that partially hid his bigger smile, he had the same skin tone as Eshan and wore a loose shirt and trousers with a sword at his belt, "I'm Akash" he introduced himself, "I'm here to aid the king in the north"

"that's me" Robb handed over the ring for the man to inspect

"so where is Eshan?" Akash asked as he put the ring on

"he isn't with us right now" Robb told him

"well he did say he probably wouldn't be with you but he gave me orders so get your men on to the boat we should leave for King's landing before the decide to attack"

It took just over a day to get all the men on the boats and for them to sail to King's landing, as they sail Robb stood at the head of the ship seeing victory so close, "drink?" Akash held a wineskin to the king

"thanks" Robb took a swing as he looked at the fleet around him, "how did Eshan get all these ships?"

"the Trident company has been around since the doom we've had some time to build up a fleet"

"how much do you trust Eshan?" Robb asked

"I'm his uncle so I can't be impartial but a lot of the success the company is seeing now is thanks to him"

"I hope his plan works" Robb said taking another swing

"it will" Akash took a swig as he saw the lights of King's landing came in to view, "besides we're here"

Joffrey stood atop the walls of King's landing with his uncles and grandfather as he watched the ships sail in to the Blackwater, towards his single ship, Tyrion squinted to try and see how many men were on the ships but he couldn't make out people. Joffrey took the torch ready to throw it as the ships passed, "wait" Tyrion said but it was too later the king had thrown the torch, all men looked away as green fire engulfed the ships throwing fire and debris in all directions, Joffrey's sadistic smile faded as he didn't hear any screams or cries.

"what happened?" Joffrey asked as he looked over the burning ships

"there were no men on those ships" Tyrion said, "that was Robb Starks plan"

"well get ready for their landing then" Joffrey said as he started to climb down from the wall

"THE WALLS HAVE BEEN BREACHED, THE WALLS HAVE BEEN BREACHED" a man ran to where the king was screaming

"what are you talking about?" Jamie asked, "Robb Stark hasn't even landed yet"

"the Lion gate has been breached it looks like wildlings" the man told Jamie

"RETREAT BACK TO THE RED KEEP" Jamie shouted as he grabbed Joffrey

Jamie took the king to the throne room along with Tyrion and Tywin, once Cersei joined them with Tommen and Myrcella the kings guard blocked the great doors, "what happened?" Cersei asked as Joffrey paced in anger

"THAT SPIDER WAS WRONG THE WILDLINGS HADN'T ABANDONED THE STARK THEY ATTACKED FROM BEHIND" Joffrey shouted as he kicked things over

"those reports of wildling attacks were just a diversion" Tywin said as he sat on the steps to the throne

"I WILL HAVE THAT BASTARDS HEAD" Joffrey screamed, "I'LL HAVE ALL THE STARKS HEADS"

"we need to leave" Tyrion said sitting next to his father, "grab anything of value, there are tunnels out of the city, we can buy a ship and sail to Essos"

"NO I WON'T LEAVE THIS IS MY THRONE, I WON'T LEAVE NOT until" Joffrey trailed off, "bring me the Stark girl WHERE IS SHE"

"Ser Meryn, Ser Gregor take some men and find the girl" Jamie told them, "alive"

"just make sure her face is intact" Joffrey said as he sat on the throne

End of chapter 17


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

She had to escape; she knew she had to that was why she wasn't with the other ladies. She knew what Joffrey would do to her if her brother got in to the city.

Sansa ran around the Red keep trying to find a way out and to her brother, she ran around a corner and spotted two Lannister men, who spotted her back, she turned and ran but the two were already in pursuit and it didn't take long for them to catch up and grab her. Sansa thrashed and kicked, trying to get free, but the two had an iron grip on her.

"stop struggling princess, we're here to help" one of them said

" _what did he call me?"_ Sansa asked herself as she stopped struggling

"we were sent by your brother to get you somewhere safe" the other told her, "now act natural and keep quiet"

Sansa walked with the two men either side of her. The trio were walking through the courtyard when someone shouted at them, they all turned to see Ser Meryn Trant flanked by 5 men, "where are you taking Lady Stark?"

"we got orders directly from the hand to take the Lady Stark to a prison cell" one of her guards lied

"well we have orders directly from the king to bring her to the throne room" Trant told them, "now hand her over"

"we got orders from the hand to take her only to the cells" he lied again

"when did you get this order?" Trant asked as he reached for his sword

"it was be for the battle had began" her guards also reached for their swords, "we've been looking for her since then"

"why is your armour covered in blood" Trant grabbed his sword even though his men hadn't caught on

"we found some looters and quickly took care of them" they grabbed their swords and entered a stare off with the kings guard

"hand over the Lady stark to my custody now" Trant ordered

"sorry but we can't do that" as he said that the two attacked

Sansa stood on the side as the two of them killed the six men, by the time it was over one of her guards were dead along with the six other and the one remaining was heavily injured. He grabbed Sansa and pulled her with him, "are you ok?" Sansa asked worried

"we need to find you some were to hide until your brother takes the keep" he said as he tried opening every door they came across but they were all locked

This continued until they turned a corner and came face to face with the mountain and his five men, her guard pushed Sansa back as he drew his sword, "run princess find somewhere safe" he said as he raised his sword to fight

"what about you?" Sansa asked

"I'll be find now RUN!" he shouted

Sansa turned and ran, hearing him scream out the northern war cry and then silence. Sansa ran as fast as she could but it wasn't fast enough, the mountain and his men soon caught her and dragged her, kicking and screaming, to the throne room. She was thrown down in front of the king, "I hear you seduced two of my men to help you escape" Joffrey said standing over the cowering girl

"I didn't seduce them just please don't hurt me" Sansa pleaded avoiding Joffrey's gaze

"we have her now we can leave" Tyrion stood up

"she isn't leaving this city" Joffrey said, "she has to pay for her brothers treachery"

"you can't kill her" Tyrion said shocked

"I AM THE KING I CAN DO WHAT I WANT" Joffrey shouted at the dwarf

"IF WE KILL HER THE STARKS WILL HUNT US TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD" Tyrion shouted back, "but if we keep her alive we can trade her for our lives"

"it wouldn't matter anyway, Stannis would just kill us even if we made peace with the Starks" Cersei said

"my mother is right so I think I should have some fun" Joffrey drew his sword and pointed it at a cowering Sansa as she crawled away, "I think you know what to do Ser Gregor"

The mountain stood of the petrified girl and started ripping her dress off, she kicked and screamed but the mountain was much stronger. With her dress torn off the mountain pinned her hands over her head and started to undo his belt; the guards continued to stare straight while Joffrey smiled at the sight in front of him, Cersei and Tywin both watched as well showing no emotion but the two Lannister brothers turned away not able to watch.

The mountain had just gotten his trouser off when the doors to the throne room started to shake as they were rammed, the guards raised their weapons and the mountain forgot about Sansa. The doors burst open and a giant ran in followed by hundreds of wildlings, the guards were herded to the sides of the throne room, "capture and restrain all the Lannisters" Eshan ordered as he walked in

"GET THEM GREGOR!" Joffrey screamed

The mountain charged towards them but was swatted in to a pillar by the giant, all the guards stood petrified but Joffrey ran at Eshan with his sword raised and tried to bring it down but it was blocked by Tormund who just head butted the king and dropped him to the floor.

All the Lannisters and guards were tied up and Sansa had been given a cloak, Eshan walked up the steps to the Iron throne, "that what you lot fighting for?" Tormund asked walking up next to him

"yeah" Eshan muttered staring at the throne

"it looked uncomfortable" Tormund said making Eshan laugh

"you wanna sit on it?" Eshan asked

"no it looks like it'll stab me" Tormund said before he walked back down the steps

Eshan walked up and sat on the throne resting his chin on his fist, "I do feel more powerful" Eshan muttered to himself

"GET OFF THERE" Joffrey shouted pulling against his restraints, "I AM THE KING THAT THRONE IS MINE!"

"maybe I'll become king" Eshan joked, "how does that sound, king Eshan first of his name"

"sounds like one of those idiot kings from the songs" Tormund said

"you're right and we should compose that song right now" Eshan joked as slumped in to the throne

Robb had run through the city finding no soldiers and made it to the Red keep to find the gates wide open or ripped off, the king ran through the keep and in to the throne room where he found it full of wildlings singing about Eshan.

"all hail king Eshan greatest king of all ruler of Westeros he shall never fall, king Eshan was great in war slaying all his foes he smashed the stag then slit the lions throat, he was unmatched in battle of wit the greatest there will be no equal past present or future shall you see, all hail king Eshan standing great and tall ruler of all Westeros he will never fall" They sung as their prisoners sat in the corner

"what is going on here?" Robb asked his voice echoing

"ROBB!" Sansa jumped up and ran into her brothers arms

"are you ok?" Robb asked as he held her tight

"I'm fine your men saved me" she told him happy to finally be safe

"Lord Umber find my sister something to wear" Robb ordered, "and what is happening here?"

"we were celebrating our victory" Eshan said from the throne as he corrected the crown on his head

"you shouldn't be sitting there" Robb said as he walked up the steps

"you want to" Eshan got up and offered the seat to the king

The king in the north sat on the iron throne.

End of chapter 18


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It had been a few hours since Robb had taken Kings landing and he now sat in council with his Lords, "Lord Glover how are repairs to the Mud and Lion gates going?" he asked

"they'll be done in the week your grace"

"Lord Karstark our prisoners?"

"I made sure to give Joffrey the dampest cell I could find"

"now Eshan what do you have planned?" the king asked as he turned to the Volantene

"you know me too well" he commented before standing up, "in our custody we have the Lannisters and most of the Tyrells which makes my plan a little easier, we need to invite Stannis, Balon Greyjoy and Doran Martell to the city"

"and why would we do that?" Edmure asked, "Balon and Stannis want to kill us and the Martells are neutral"

"that's why we need to have them in the city we have captured Joffrey and we need to end this war now"

"so you want all the major houses present to negotiate an end to the fighting" Robb concluded

"exactly your grace"

"well I'll be happy to finally go home" Blackfish commented from his seat

"I'll make sure ravens are sent to them all" Robb said about to dismiss the council

"I also wish for responsibility for our prisoners to be given to me" Eshan asked

"you don't think I am capable?" Lord Karstark asked offended

"no I just wish to interrogate some of them, that is all"

"fine until everyone arrives the prisoners will be your responsibility" Robb granted the request

Eshan soon travelled down to the dungeons and then further to the deepest part of the dungeon, a place light could never reach, he opened the door and the torch he held revealed a figure huddled in the corner of the cell. Eshan walked in and closed the door behind him and kneeled in front of the woman who sat in front of him, "here to gloat?" she asked not even looking at him

"no I just want to know something" Eshan told her, "I think you know what"

"Joffrey is my son" she told him

"but is he Roberts?" Eshan asked

"what does it matter he's no longer king"

"it won't leave this cell" he assured her

"fine it won't change anything" she sighed, "he's Jamie's son and so are Tommen and Myrcella"

"well thank you I'll try and get you killed first so you don't have to watch" Eshan stood up and walked out of the cell

Eshan continued down to another cell, he opened it to find a small man sitting in the corner; he walked in and knelt in front of him, "here to gloat?" he asked

"your sister said the same thing" Eshan told him, "but no I'm here to give you an offer"

"I'm afraid neither of us have enough time to hear all my families crimes" Tyrion joked

"that's not what I want , all the major houses are meeting and you will represent house Lannister"

"that's interesting but my father is the head of our house"

"your family is going to die but I can save you, I can make you Lord of Casterly rock"

"and all I have to do is?"

"all you have to do is agree to the independence of the north and one other thing"

"and what is it?"

"you'll know" Eshan looked at the dwarf for an answer

"I don't normally like agreeing to things I don't know everything about but if it get me out of here" Tyrion agree

Eshan stood up and put his torch in to a fitting in the wall, "a small gift" he said before he walked out and back above ground

After his trip to the cells Eshan made his way to the gardens knowing he would find her there, having tea and cakes overlooking the sea sat the old Olenna Tyrell with her granddaughter and a few hand maidens , "come to check on your prisoners?" she asked as soon as she saw Eshan enter

"you're not prisoners" Eshan said as he put on a smile, "and if you were this is the nicest prison I've seen"

"doesn't matter how good it is we are still prisoners" the old lady said, "and stop smiling you look like an idiot"

"all of you leave" Eshan ordered as he sat down and dropped the smile

"Margery stay the rest of you go" Olenna ordered when her hand maidens looked to her, "I want you to watch dear"

"I need you to do something for me" Eshan said

"and why should I?" Olenna asked as she continued eating

"all the major houses, except for the Arryns, are going to be in Kings landing soon to discuss the terms of peace to bring this war to an end" Eshan told her

"good this fighting seemed to get more pointless by the day but what do you want from my house and what are we getting?"

"for years the Tyrells have been the second richest family behind the Lannisters I'm offering you the top spot and the complete castration of the Lannisters, all I need from you is to support the independence of the north and another thing" Eshan told them

"fine it'll feel good to put that queen in her place" Olenna said, "you have house Tyrells backing"

"thank you" Eshan stood and left the two ladies

A few days' later letters arrived from Stannis demanding that Robb hand over Kings landing and declare him king, "what am I going to do?" Robb muttered from the iron throne as he read

"I told you that war with Stannis might be inevitable but if it is we have the numbers" Eshan to the king

"he is coming so technically your plan is working" Robb joked as he turned his attention to other business

Another few days' pass and Oberyn Martell arrived in the city and after visiting a few other places first he went to see the king in the north, "I invited your brother" Robb said when Oberyn arrived in the throne room

"my brother is very weak and cannot travel so he sent me in his place your grace" Oberyn explained

"I heard stories of the red viper as a child and had always wanted to meet you" Robb said

"and stories of the young wolfs ferocity and skill have reached Dorne," Oberyn said, "I am impressed you took on two of the richest families in Westeros and won"

"anyway we are waiting for others to arrive in the city so a room has been prepared for you in the keep"

"thank you your grace but unnecessary I have already paid for a room in the city"

"well I have other matter to attend to so you are free to roam around the city"

As Robb said that Oberyn left the throne room and headed out of the keep but on his way through the courtyard he was found by Eshan, "you were in the throne room" The Dornishman said when he was stopped

"I need to talk to you" Eshan said

"what is it?" Oberyn asked

"we currently have the mountain in our custody" as Eshan said the name he noticed Oberyn's jaw tighten, "I can have him handed over to the Martells if…."

"I agree" Oberyn interrupted without thinking

"all I need from you is for the Martells to back the independence of the north and another thing I need to keep secret"

"I'll back you if you can assure me that I'll get the mountain" Oberyn told the Volantene

"he'll be yours"

End of chapter 19


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Three days later Stannis arrived at the gates of Kings landing, with his army, demanding Robb hand over the city or face the consequences, Eshan was sent out to talk with him. The Volantene rode out of the city gates and towards the camped army, he was greeted by Stannis, Melisandre and Davos half way between the city and camp, "has your king decided to kneel?" Stannis asked as soon as his horse stopped

"Robb Stark wishes for the fighting to end" Eshan told the king, "you are welcome in the city with a company of 20 men to act as your guard as are any of your diplomats or generals"

"I did not come because the boy summoned me" Stannis said, "I came to take what is rightfully mine, there will be no talking"

"your grace, the Stark boy has the city and more men if you can stop the war without fighting you should consider it" Davos protested

"Stannis has no need for numbers the lord of light will lead him to victory" Melisandre said

"Your grace, think about your men" Davos pleaded

"fine when does the Stark boy want to meet?" Stannis asked

"we are waiting on Balon Greyjoy but as soon as he is here we will send you a messenger" Eshan told them before he rode back

As Eshan walked back in to the keep he was pulled in to a room and was face to face with Jon, "how long are we going to keep this from him?" he asked

"after the Lannisters are dead then he can know" Eshan told him, "he can't leave the city until after negotiations"

"I know but he should know that Bran could still be alive"

"if he knew he would rush beyond the wall without a second thought, we just need to keep this secret for a little longer"

"fine I just hope when we finally tell him that it's not too late for Bran" Jon left the room and Eshan followed soon after

About a week later Balon Greyjoy arrived by ship and all the lords of Westeros were invited in to the Red keep to finally end the war. Everyone was sat around a round table with a map of Westeros on it, Robb sat in front of the door and to his right was Edmure and to Edmure's right was Oberyn then Olenna , Tyrion, Davos, Stannis, Melisandre, Balon, Mance Rayder, Yohn Royce and finally Eshan to Robb's left. Robb stood to welcome them all, "we are here to put an end to the fighting and draft a treaty so there can be peace" Robb sat down passing it to Eshan

"the first thing to discern is the party to blame for this war" Eshan said, "I think everyone will agree that the blame fall on house Lannister"

Everyone agreed while Tyrion sat in silence, "as such they should have to compensate the other great houses for the damages of this war" Eshan continued and everyone agreed, "but to avoid exploitation of house Lannister they should be forced to pay each great house 1 million dragons as compensation for the lives lost"

"that is ridiculous" Tyrion spoke up, "house Martell and Greyjoy have been neutral"

"fine then house Martell and Greyjoy will be exempt, is that agreeable to you?" Eshan looked to Oberyn and Balon

"the Ironborn have no need for your gold"

"house Martell is not here to get gold"

"good now that that is established we can move on" Eshan sighed knowing what was coming, "Kings landing and the iron throne will be handed over to the rightful king Stannis Baratheon"

"as was prophesised" Melisandre said to the Baratheon

"on the conditions that the iron throne gives up all claims to the North, Vale and Riverlands and acknowledge them as their own independent kingdom" Eshan continued

"you want to give me a hollow throne while you take half my kingdom" Stannis protested, "there will be no peace"

"if you want war then you will have it" Robb warned the lord

"you can't threaten him boy, Stannis is the chosen one of the lord of light" Melisandre defended Stannis, "his victory is assured"

"unless the lord of light is willing to lend Stannis a few thousand men then only his defeat is assured" Eshan told them

"as their king house Tyrell, Lannister and Martell will follow me" Stannis said

"house Tyrell is tired of this constant fighting we will have no part of another pointless war" Olenna said

"house Martell did not join the last pointless war they will not join this one" Oberyn told the stormlord

"house Lannister has no men left to fight" Tyrion admitted

"you have no allies Stannis I think war would be unwise" Eshan smiled as Stannis looked at him with contempt

"the only ally Stannis need is the lord of light ever…."

"the lord of light isn't here" Davos interrupted her then turned to Stannis, "please your grace just accept the terms"

"fine" Stannis reluctantly backed down

"also in the interest of preventing another war and to stop any future Lannister ambitions the norther half of the Westerlands will be given to the newly formed Northern kingdom" Eshan drew a border just north of Casterly rock on the map

"house Lannister will not stand for this and neither will I" Stannis shouted

"House Lannister agrees to these terms" Tyrion unenthusiastically said

Stannis backed down again as everyone else agreed to let the northern half of the Westerlands be ruled by the north, "good now on to prisoners, Tyrion Lannister will be freed and will become lord of Casterly rock and the southern Westerlands" Eshan wait for someone to protest but no one did, "Myrcella and Tommen Lannister will give up any claim to the iron throne and be trusted top their uncles care while the other Lannister will stay in King Robb's custody"

The negotiations went on of hours but by the end of the day they had set out a basic outline and the rest was easy, that night Eshan met Robb in his room, "you were quite ruthless" the King said as the two sat, drinking, "Talisa once said you made grown men cry I now see how"

"well I do have a reputation to uphold"

"I know why you took half of the Westerlands and its not to stop the Lannisters"

"well everyone knew, I have to get something out of this war, so?" Eshan asked

"fine I name you Lord paramount of the northern Westerlands"

The two drank until they had to get some sleep, the next day the negotiations continued and they went on for the next 3 days until everything was agreed on and signed, under the treaty the North, Riverland, Vale and, after granting them some autonomy, iron islands and northern Westerlands were now an independent kingdom with Robb Stark as their king, the iron throne was given to Stannis and the two kingdoms signed a non-aggression pact that was valid for the next 200 years.

The day after the negotiation had ended Stannis was crowned, all the lords and members of court stood in the throne room as Stannis sat on the iron throne as a man held a crown over his head, "I crown thee Stannis of the house Baratheon first of his name king of the Andals and protector of the realm"

Stannis stood up and declared the Northern kingdom independent from the iron throne and renounced any claim to it for the rest of time. With their business done the Northern army were packing up and leaving Kings landing while Eshan had a talk with Akash.

"well goodbye uncle" Eshan smiled as they looked across blackwater bay

"I'll tell your father you're now Lord Eshan" Akash pulled him in to a hug, "I remember when you were born, my brother was so annoying saying you would be the greatest warrior Volantis has ever seen"

"well my father isn't exactly the most down to earth person" Eshan said as he remembered his childhood, "but I still have a lot to do so good bye"

"I'll tell everyone you're doing well" the two shared one last hug before Akash set sail for Volantis

Within the day the Northern army had left Kings landing and marching back north.

End of chapter 20


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The Northern army had been marching for days, they had just crossed over in to the Riverlands and were camped in Harrenhal on their way to Riverrun to meet up with the other Starks. Eshan sat with the king as the two relaxed for the first time since the beginning of the war, "well you did it" Robb said as he looked out of the tower window

"I always succeed so it's not a surprise to me"

"I can't wait to finally stop fighting"

"and raise your son with your wife?"

"we don't know yet it could still be a girl"

"yeah but Eddard isn't really a girl's name" the two laughed

"well now that you're a lord you need to find a wife" Robb said getting the conversation off him

"we'll see if any ladies catch my eye but for now I need to focus on building my keep" Eshan deflected the question, "I can see it now beside the sea"

"well I'll visit once it is done"

The army was back on the march as soon as dawn broke, they marched for hours before they made camp just as the sun was going down. Eshan was taking a walk around the camp when he ran in to the Princess and her guards, "Princess" Eshan bowed his head

"you were the one who saved me in the throne room"

"I'd give the giant more credit thanks to him we walked right in to the keep"

"well thank you anyway" Sansa bowed her own head slightly

The two walked through the camp together as they continued to talk, "you must be happy to finally be going home"

"when I was little I only wanted to leave Winterfell and go to the capital but when I finally got there the only thing I wanted was to go back" Sansa looked slightly depressed as she spoke, "nothing good happened in that city"

"well one good thing did happen" Eshan said

"what?" Sansa asked

"I got to see a king get punched in the face that was the funniest thing I had ever seen"

Sansa started to laugh as the two continued to talk until the sun started to disappear behind the horizon. The army marched for the next few days until they reached Riverrun where waiting for the king was the rest of his family, Catelyn cried tears of joy as she embraced her son and daughter and Talisa greeted her husband with her swollen belly.

The army garrisoned at Riverrun for a week before Robb sent his army north without him and with a 300 men acting as a guard he made his way towards the Vale with his family and Eshan as well as his Lannister prisoners.

"I hear you have been given a lordship" Sansa said to Eshan as she rode next to him,

"my family lost their name generations ago and we never bothered to pick it back up so a title doesn't do me much good"

"well a noble house has to have a name"

"well just call me Lord Blackwall" Eshan thought for a bit before settling on the name

"and why Blackwall?" she asked

"for the black walls of Volantis where I grew up" Eshan reminisced about his home, "you should see them, some of the houses inside are never touched by the sun"

"maybe you could take me to see them Volantis sounds much warmed that Winterfell"

"it is"

Tyrion Lannister also travelled with the king in the north, wanting to be with his family to the very end, after they had set up camp about a days march from the Bloody gate he finally decided to visit his family. The imp walked to the pens where he knew they would be and he found them all sharing one that was only just big enough, "come to boast?" his father asked, "we are going to die and you will finally be lord of Casterly rock"

"this is not how I wanted to become lord and you know that"

"it doesn't matter, you're lord now and for better or worse I have to entrust our family legacy to you so just don't let our house die" Tywin was slightly vulnerable in front of Tyrion for the first time ever

"fine I'll make sure our name is never forgotten"

"where are they?" Cersei who had been silent finally spoke up, "are they already dead?"

"Tommen and Myrcella are in my care, they have given up any claim to the throne but I did manage to get them legitimised as Lannisters and I've sent them to Casterly rock, they'll be fine"

"thank you" Cersei said as Tyrion walked away from the pen

As soon as the sun rose they started to march again and by the end of the day they had reached the Eyrie. Robb and his prisoners walked in to the great hall as his aunt and cousin sat above him, "look the funny man is back" Robin said as he jumped out of his mother's arms, "did you bring me a king so I can make him fly?"

"did indeed" Eshan said as the prisoners were dragged forward, "I even brought you three others"

"you managed to defeat the Lannisters but why is the imp not in chains as well?" Lysa asked

"Tyrion is the lord of Casterly rock we couldn't possibly kill him" Eshan said sarcastically

"I WANT TO MAKE THEM FLY" Robin shouted getting impatient

"yes yes sweetrobin" Lysa said as she pulled her son on to her lap, "open the moon door"

"her and this fucking door" Tyrion whispered as the door opened

"do the old man first" Robin ordered as he jumped up excited

"annoying little brat" Tywin said as he was dragged forward, he looked over his shoulder at Tyrion, "remember what I told you"

Tywin was thrown through the door and down to the earth, Robin then excitedly ordered Cersei to be next and she went without argument and she was thrown through the door without saying a word. When Robin ordered Jamie to be next Karstark dragged him towards the door himself, "I would rather cut off your head but I doesn't really matter how it's done" Karstark whispered to him

"your sons where great men just in the wrong places at the wrong time" Jamie whispered back

"well this is for them" Karstark said before he threw the kingsguard through the hole

"now the king now the king" Robin jumped up more excited that ever as the men grabbed Joffrey

"LET GO OF ME I AM YOU KING" he screamed, like he had since they had left Kings landing, "I AM YOUR RIGHTFUL KING YOU CAN'T DO THIS"

They dragged him kicking and screaming towards the door and when they had thrown him out he screams could still be heard as he fell.

End of chapter 21


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Eshan was in his room when a guard informed him that the king wished to see him, as soon as he entered and saw Jon Snow he knew what it was about, "you told him" Eshan said as he stood next to the bastard

"yes and he explained why you didn't tell me my brother was alive" Robb said

"but now that the war is over you can send men beyond the wall" Eshan said

"if what Jon says about beyond the wall is true then he might already be dead"

"we can't give up he's our brother we can't leave him out there, I'll go myself" Jon offered

"no Jon you will be needed at the wall, I'll get some men to volunteer" Robb said

"I'll ask some of the free folk, see if they'll help the men" Jon said as the king relaxed slightly

"I'll hire some men to search the north for Rickon" Eshan said

"I am mad you kept this from me but you did what you thought was best for our cause so I can forgive you"

"well someone has to keep this kingdom from falling apart" Eshan joked before he headed for the door, "I'm going to get some sleep we leave in the morning"

The group left the Eyrie and journeyed together until they reached a cross roads and were forced to split up, "goodbye Eshan" Robb held out his arm which the Volantene grabbed, "shame to you can't come to Winterfell"

"we'll see each other again and besides I have my own keep to raise" Eshan said

After he had said his goodbyes to everyone else Robb watched as the Volantene rode away with the imp. Robb made his way back home to Winterfell where he was forced to part with Jon, "sorry to leave you" Jon said as he prepared his horse for the long ride back to the wall

"shame I couldn't get you to leave the watch" Robb said, "is it really that great up there"

"no but I took an oath I can break it" Jon turned to look at his brother

"well here" Robb handed Jon a rolled up piece of paper, "father would have wanted you to have this"

Jon opened it up and read the paper before he looked at his brother and pulled him into a hug, "goodbye, Stark"

"and you, Stark" Robb said as he returned the hug

5 years later

Eshan looked up at Winterfell, it had undergone some improvements since he had last seen it, the walls where higher and thicker and they had built an outer wall as well as taller towers, Eshan rode through the inner wall and was greeted by Arya as soon as he was off his horse, "your back" Arya ran up to him with her wolf in tow

"I am and you haven't grown an inch" Eshan said as he greeted her

"actually I have grown 4 and half inches since last time" Arya corrected

"well…."

"ESHAN" Sansa interrupted the two as she ran up with her wolf

"see she has actually grown" Eshan said noticing the princess was almost as tall as him now

"it's been such a long time" Sansa said as she stopped next to the Volantene, "I missed you"

"yeah she has been panicking all morning looking for the perfect dress" Arya said laughing

"SHUT UP ARYA" Sansa lunged at her sister who dodged the attack and ran with Sansa and their wolves right behind her

Eshan chuckled before he made his way inside and to the throne room where Robb and Talisa where waiting for him, "ESHAN" Robb said as he stood up to greet his friend, "how are you?"

"I'm fine but why have you called me here?" Eshan asked

"I got a message from Jon he says that winter is near" Robb became serious as he said it

"so we have to face what comes with it"

"yes and we need to strike before it gets beyond the wall"

"are you sure, if you do this thousands will die"

"we haven't heard from the men sent to find Bran but we found Rickon and I have a family, I won't lose them to whatever is beyond the wall" Robb said, "so will you help me?"

"I will but we'll need my father's help so I'll need to go home" Eshan said after thinking for a few minutes

"can't you just send him a letter like last time?" Robb asked

"no I will have to talk to him face to face for what I'm asking for so I'll have to go" Eshan told the king, "it might help if you came with me"

"would it?"

"yes and if you can talk to the triarchs then you could get aid from Volantis in what you're planning"

"if it will help then I will travel with you"

"if you are going to Volantis then you'll need me with you" Talisa spoke up finally

"you will need a translator since you still can't speak Valyrian" Eshan said

"fine I want us to leave by the end of the week" Robb said before he left to make preparations

Eshan walked through the halls of Winterfell when he suddenly came face to face with Sansa as he turned a corner, "princess" he said as he stood aside to let her pass

"so what did my brother want to talk to you about?" she asked not moving

"we were preparing to visit Volantis to discuss an alliance with the triarchs" Eshan told her

"so you're going back home" Sansa said, "I have wanted to visit ever since you told me about it"

"well I'm sure you can convince your brother to let you come" Eshan said, as he said it a small child ran out of nowhere and right in to Eshan's leg falling on his butt

"what are you doing standing around you need to get back to work" the little boy shouted at Eshan

"so this is little Eddard Stark" Eshan bent down to the boys level to get a better look, he looked just like his father with the same long dark hair except his skin wasn't a pale

"that is Prince Eddard to you servant" the boy said to him

A few seconds later a handmaiden appeared and picked the prince up, "young prince your mother has been looking for you" she said before she turned to Eshan and bowed her head, "sorry if he was causing trouble mi lord"

"no trouble at all" Eshan said before he walked off with Sansa to continue their conversation

End of chapter 22


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Robb stepped off the boat in to the humid heat and the first thing that hit him was the smell, it was fish and dung but there was something sweet in it as well, "what is that? Robb asked as he tried to think of something that smelled like it

"home" Eshan said as he stepped off next to the king

"I had almost forgotten the smell" Talisa said as she took in a deep breath

"I don't like it" Eddard commented covering his nose

"me neither" Sansa said to the small child

"foreigners" Eshan muttered as the group walked towards the stalls that lined the harbour

"ESHAN" a man about Robb's age who greatly resembled Eshan walked up to the group and pulled the Volantene in to a hug

"ROHAN" Eshan pulled away as he introduced the man, "this is my brother, Rohan"

" _nice to see you again Talisa_ " Rohan spoke to the queen in Valyrian

" _and it's nice to see you too, this is my husband, King Robb Stark_ " Talisa introduced Robb

"nice meet you, you grace" Rohan stumbled over the language but Robb just understood him

" _you mean,_ nice to meet you your grace" Eshan corrected his brother, " _honestly your Westerosi is terrible_ "

" _nice uh-uh seeing you"_ Robb stumbled out the little Valyrian he knew

" _nice to meet you as well"_ Talisa corrected her husband, "your Valyrian is as bad as Rohan's Westerosi"

"anyway we should go" Eshan said

The group was lead to a large carriage pulled by two horses, they all climbed in and it started through the city. Sansa and little Eddard looked out of the window as the city went by while the others talked, " _we need to stop at the Maegyr family home before we can go see everyone_ " Rohan told Eshan.

" _why are we going there?_ " Talisa asked worried

" _calm down your father will explain when we get there_ " Rohan assured her

Eshan looked out of the window and saw they were on the long bridge and almost to the black walls, he looked up at the massive towering walls as he was reminded of his childhood. They made it through the gates of the black walls easily and they travelled through the maze of palaces and temples, the foreigners looking at the massive structures in awe as they passed. The carriage soon stopped and everyone climbed out in front of a large palace with large fountains and statues decorating the front.

"so this is where you grew up" Robb said as he stared up at the place

"yes" Talisa answered looking nervous as they all walked in

As soon as the group entered they were greeted by a boy, slightly younger than Eshan, " _you're back_ " he said as he hugged Talisa

" _where is father?_ " she asked as she pulled out of the hug

Robb looked at the two as they spoke, not able to understand them, until an older man walked up to the and they fell silent, " _father_ " Talisa said as she bowed her head slightly

" _Talisa_ " her father acknowledged her before he turned to Robb, " _so this is him_ "

" _yes father this is my husband King Robb Stark_ " Talisa introduced him

" _well meet you_ " Robb said as he tried to speak Valyrian

"your Valyrian is terrible" her father said in Westerosi, "but I suppose you can't be that terrible if you are a king"

Her father then turned away from the king and back towards his daughter, " _you need to see your grandfather and he will probably want to see your husband_ "

She nodded before she picked up Eddard and told Robb to follow her, she knew exactly where her grandfather would be and she walked up to the door and gave a quick knock, " _yes?_ " came a weak reply from the other side

" _grandfather it is Talisa_ " she answered

" _enter_ "

Talisa walked in to the room with her husband and son close behind, the room had many large open windows letting in the light and a desk set in front of one of the windows looking out in to the city but in the centre of the room was a large bed and lying in the bed was a frail old man. Talisa kneeled by the old man who looked up at her, barely able to see, " _is it really you, Talisa?"_ the old man asked

" _yes I am here_ " Talisa said as she held the man's hand

" _if I could still see I would say you are as beautiful as your grandmother was_ " the old man gave out a weak laugh, " _well it is good to hear you anyway_ "

" _I'm sure mother has been telling you all about my adventures in Westeros_ "

" _yes she told me that you got married and even had a son_ "

" _his name is Eddard_ " Talisa told him as she picked Eddard up to place him next to her grandfather

" _are you teaching him to speak a proper language not like that Westerosi_ " he said as he tried to get a better look at his great grandson

" _yes I am teaching him but he isn't picking it up as fast as he did Westerosi, he's like his father in that respect_ "

" _and where is this man who stole my granddaughters heart?_ " he asked and Talisa signalled Robb forward

"hello" Robb said before he realised he spoke in Westerosi

"no need to worry boy I can speak Westerosi" he said before the king could correct himself, "what is your name?"

"Robb Stark" he said nervously

"well thank you I thought Talisa wouldn't catch the eye of any boy and if she did I was afraid they wouldn't be able to deal with her"

"well I have some experience with stubborn people" Robb said

" _I like him despite where he came from_ " he said to Talisa

" _wow this is a sight_ " Eshan walked in to the room and towards the bed

" _could you not just leave me to die in peace_ " he said when he recognised the voice, " _I had hoped when I heard you had travelled to Westeros you would be killed in the war there_ "

" _sorry old man you're out of luck and I couldn't miss watching the ferocious tiger die_ "

" _have you just come to mock a dying old man_ "

" _no I did want to see you one last time before you died, I won't be coming back to Volantis anytime soon if ever so I wanted to at least say goodbye_ "

" _if you could leave before I die then I can die happy with the knowledge that you are finally gone for good_ "

" _you can't even say something nice with your last words?_ "

" _no_ " was his reply which made Eshan laugh

" _well continue being a cranky old man until you die and your wife has probably found a better man in death_ " Eshan quickly left the room before the old man could shout at him

Talisa sat with her grandfather for hours talking about everything they could, Robb only stayed for a few minutes before he took Eddard outside and left them alone.

End of chapter 23


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Talisa stayed with her grandfather for hours, when she finally came out everyone climbed back in the carriage and went on their way, " _so are we going home now?_ " Eshan asked as they left

" _yes and everyone can't wait to see you again_ " Rohan answered

" _well I can't wait to see them_ " Eshan said back

They travelled within the walls and soon they arrived at a palace just as big as the Maegyr house, everyone climbed out and walked inside they were greeted by a man about the same age as Robbs father, he pulled Eshan in to a hug, " _here he is the great westerosi lord_ " he patted Eshan on the back before releasing him

"your grace this is my father, Rashan" Eshan introduced him

"pleasure to meet you your grace" Rashan bowed his head, "you have already met my second son, Rohan, unfortunately my eldest son is out on business currently"

" _Rash is having some fun on the western bank_ " Eshan whispered to his brother as they snickered together until Talisa elbowed Eshan

"dinner has been prepared for your grace so we should go to the dining hall, my wife and daughter should be there already"

They followed Rashan to a large dining hall with an equally large table, sitting at the were two ladies one about the age of Rashan and the other the same age as Rohan, "this is my wife, Karna and my daughter, Ishika" Rashan introduced the two

Everyone sat down, the food was served and everyone spent the next hour eating and talking until they were sick of it, "and we charged over the hill and took those bastards by surprise" Eshan said recounting one of the battles, "they had thought Robb had summoned an entire army from the ground"

"sounds like you had fun over there, do you still have my sword?" Rashan asked

"yes father" Eshan pulled out his sword to show him

"well it looks like you haven't damaged it" Rashan said after looking at the sword, "your great great great a couple more greats uncle fought several stonemen bare handed to get this sword, of course he ended up with grey scale and he killed himself a few days later"

"yeah I know the stories, from the one about our ancestor who spent a year in the smoking ruin of Valyria and looted enough treasure to live off for a thousand lifetimes to the one about the ancestor who punched out a Stoneman" Eshan sheathed his sword, "but I have some business to discuss with you father"

"ok follow me then" Rashan walked out and Eshan and Robb followed close behind

The three walked in to an office; the room was split in two by a large desk and the walls were lined with bookcases filled with books that were filled with numbers, Rashan sat behind the desk and Robb felt a shift in his demeanour, "now what is this business you wish to discuss?" he asked sounding much more serious

"you might not believe me but I promise father this is all true" Eshan said before he explained the situation to his father

"you expect me to believe in creatures that haven't been seen in a thousand years and can apparently raise the dead and based on that you want me to give you our entire collection of Valyrian steel artefacts a collection our family killed for"

"I know how it sounds father but you kno…"

"I sent you ships when you needed them because I knew you would be killed otherwise it was a fact that you were fighting a war but there is no evidence for these white walkers" Rashan interrupted his son

"I have talked men who have seen them and the fear in their face was not fake no man could fake the face they made"

"I still can't just give up our families greatest asset based on the face some man made when talking about these things"

"Rashan" Robb interrupted, "you run one of the biggest merchant companies in the world and as such you want to make money, if you give the North your families collection of Valyrian steel artefacts we will not only promise to return all of them to you once this war is over, we will compensate you and all taxes will be removed for any of your goods coming in to the North"

Rashan thought about it for a second, "fine then you have a deal your grace" Rashan held out his hand and the king took it sealing the deal, "you might want to see the weapons you just bought"

"yes I would"

Rashan led the two out of the office and down below the house, "that was quite impressive your grace" Eshan whispered to the king

"well I learned from watching you" Robb replied

"I actually would have started out by halving the tax and see if he took it"

"well I might not be as good as you"

They followed Rashan deep below the house to a large vault door blocking their way, Rashan took an amulet from inside his clothes and used it to open the door. They walked in and Robb looked around at all the books, gold and jewels but he didn't see any weapons, "where are the weapons?" he asked

"in the other room" Rashan walked to the back of the room, "could you help me Eshan"

Eshan went and stood next to his father and the two stuck their rings in to two holes in the wall and turned then revealing a secret door, they walked through it and Robb could see walls lined with weapons, there were at least a hundred swords, just as many spear tips and uncountable numbers of fragments of Valyrian steel, "you stole all this from the doom?" Robb asked looking around in amazement

"well it was just lying around so we took it" Eshan joked

"I'll have my brother catalogue and ship all of them to Winterfell" Rashan said, "it might help if you could spare some men to help protect them"

"I'll leave half my guard here to protect them" Robb said still looking at the swords

"well with all this done we should get some sleep" Rashan shepherded the king out of the vaults and everyone went off to their rooms to sleep.

End of chapter 24


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The next morning the king awoke and made his way to the dining hall where he found a man he had not met, he was older than Robb probably the same age as the kingslayer was, he sat at the table reading and didn't seem to notice Robb, "good morning" Robb said as he approached the man, "you must be the oldest brother"

"yes" he spoke fluent Westerosi, "I am Rashan and you must king Robb Stark"

"do you know where Eshan is?" Robb asked

"he woke up early and went in to the city with the princess to show her around" Rashan answered as he started reading again

Robb went off to find his son while on the long bridge Eshan walked along with the princess beside him, "so this is Volantis" she said as she looked around at all the shops and people, "I didn't expect it to be so busy"

"yeah I guess it is nothing like Winterfell or even King's landing" Eshan said

Sansa didn't answer she just kept looking around at the crowds of people from all over Essos; buying, selling and pushing their way through the thick crowd, as the two made their way through the crowd a man from one of the shops shouted Eshans name and the Volantene walked over to him, " _so you're still in business_ " he said as he stopped in front of the old man

" _of course I am the greatest baker in Volantis_ "

" _you're not the best baker on this street_ " Eshan joked

" _I see going to war hasn't changed you but now that you're back a lot of people will be looking for you"_ the baker walked back into his shop and came out with some cakes, " _anyway nice to see you again, these are for helping me out before_ "

" _thanks and I hope your baking has gotten better for my sake_ " Eshan turned and continued walking along the bridge

"who was that" Sansa asked as she walked along side him

"just a baker I helped right before I left Volantis"

"so you would leave the walls often?" she asked

"well it's much more exciting outside of them, me and my brothers barely spent anytime in there"

The two continued walking around the city and looking through the markets when out of nowhere someone grabbed Eshan and put him in a head lock, " _the great war hero has returned, what are you doing back you little fuck_ "

Eshan elbowed the man in his stomach and broke out of the head lock, " _I have business here so I'll be gone in a few days so tell your sister I'm sorry I missed her_ "

" _yeah I still don't believe you fucked my sister so can you stop that_ "

" _you don't have to believe it for it to be true, so how have you been you stupid fuck_ "

" _I have been great I'm apprenticing a….._ " he noticed Sansa behind Eshan and slid past the Volantene and right to her, " _and who is this?_ "

" _no one you need to know_ " Eshan said getting between the two

" _ohhh come on you can't keep all the pretty girls for yourself_ "

" _you mean like your sister_ "

" _that's it I'm going home and getting an answer from her_ " he walked away from the two and into the crowd

" _SHE'LL SAY YES_ " Eshan shouted at him through the crowd

" _YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELF_ " he shouted back

Eshan laughed to himself as he went on his way with Sansa close behind, "so he was a friend of yours?"

"yeah I used to play with him and his sister when we were little and I would sneak out"

"you seem very popular in this city"

"well I like to help people, before I left I knew everything about everyone of note or importance in the city and beyond" Eshan smiled at the memory, "I used to brag that I could take control of the city with an honor and a sword"

"so do you have the same power in Westeros?" She asked as they kept walking

"no I haven't been around long enough but I am keeping an eye on most of the important people in Westeros"

Eshan kept on showing her the important sights in the city and they were heading back along the long bridge when they were stopped by a towering man with two guards behind him, " _I heard you were back, why didn't you come and see me_ "

" _I had other things to do sorry if I hurt your feelings_ "

" _whatever I have some info you'll be dying to hear_ " the man held his hand out expecting some payment

Eshan grabbed a handful of coins and gave them to him, " _so what you got for me?_ "

" _the dragon queen is dead_ " the man told Eshan as he pocketed the coins

" _what do you mean, how?_ " Eshan asked

" _there was a rebellion in Meereen and she was said to have been killed by the masters but there are some rumours saying the masters are keeping her for themselves_ "

" _where are the dragons she supposedly had?_ "

" _I heard she locked two of them under the great pyramid and the last flew away_ "

Eshan thought for a second before he spoke again, " _are they still under there?_ "

" _should be but I don't know what the masters might have done with them_ "

" _good_ " Eshan pulled out a bag of coins, " _here's half I want you to get me those two dragons, I want them as intact as possible so just cut off their heads please_ "

" _and what good are dead dragons to you?_ " the man asked as he took the money

" _they can be very useful if you're smart enough, now just get me those dead dragons and if you can somehow get your hands on the thirds body then I'll pay you for that as well_ " Eshan walked away from the three men before shouting back, " _and keep it discreet_ "

Sansa ran after him, "what was that?" she asked as she looked back at the men who had disappeared in the crowd

"just some private business nothing to worry about" Eshan waved off the question and continued towards the walls in silence.

End of chapter 25 


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

It was the third and final day of the northern kings visit to Volantis and he and his hand were on their way deep in to the black walls, "do you know what the triarchs are like?" Robb asked as he looked out of the carriage window

"no idea, new ones have been elected since I left, I might have met them before but you should be careful with what you say and promise" Eshan responded

"do we really have to do this?" Robb asked, "we will get no men from them"

"but we can get supplies, we have no idea how long we will be suck behind that wall if we can get Volantis to supply our campaign that is something we don't have to worry about" Eshan explained to the king

"well if it must be done" the king stood and step out as the carriage stopped outside a towering palace at the centre of the walls

The two men neatened their clothes as they stepped in to the palace and were led to a large hall, twice the size of the throne room in King's landing, with three large elevated thrones, the two were told to wait there as the guards left to room. Robb and Eshan stood and waited for about an hour until the doors to the hall burst open and three men wearing expensive silk robes were carried in on palanquins, the men were carried up the steps to their thrones and the slaves ran off as they took their seats.

"presenting the triarchs of the great city of Volantis; Alios Staegone, Parquello Vhassar, Belicho Qhaedar" a man standing beside the three announced their names

"it is a honour to meet you great triarchs" Robb bowed as he introduced himself, "I am King Robb Stark of Northern Westeros"

"we know who you are, why have you come here Westerosi king" Alios spoke harshly as he looked down on the king, the triarch was the youngest of the trio and the slimmest but he was still fatter than Robb

"calm down Alios he most likely comes to discuss trade between us" Belicho spoke much more kindly but Robb could tell he was suspicious, he wasn't the largest of them but he was still fatter than King Robert and he barely had any hair left on his head

"then why has he brought him" Alios looked at Eshan as he said that

"why don't you two shut up and we can ask him" Parquello was the fattest, bigger than both of the others combine with a face that drooped down from its own weight, he turned to the king and asked, "what business do you have here?"

"I come requesting aid from Volantis in a campaign beyond the wall" Robb stood before the three rulers

"why should we support your campaign?" Belicho asked, "and why are you going beyond the wall?"

"from what the wildlings have said there are untapped mines beyond the wall, I hope to find a way to get to those resources" Robb told the trio, "I have no idea how long this campaign will go on but even if this campaign fails I will half the tax on Volantene goods"

The triarchs looked at them with suspicion and then they turned to each other, "we need some time to discuss this offer" Belicho called for slaves to escort them out

"how about you just accept it right now" Eshan spoke up

"w-we need to discuss this first" Belicho seemed to get nervous all of a sudden and the other two seemed uncomfortable

"Alios will vote against aid and Parquello will vote for but Alios will convince you to vote with him since from what I hear he helped get you elected so instead of us coming back here just to lose how about I sweeten the deal a bit"

"and what else do you have to offer" Alios asked seeming both angry and slightly afraid

"how about I tell you how to dominate this continent and surpass even Bravos " Eshan got the rulers interest when he said that

"all in favour of accepting King Robb's proposal?" Belicho asked looking at the others

"aye" all three of the triarchs agreed at the thought of becoming the dominate power in Essos

The two stayed for another hour or so sorting the details of the agreement and Eshan told them how to boost the Volantene economy and start to surpass Bravos. The two rode away from the palace happy with the agreement they had made.

"will their provisions even help?" Robb wondered out loud, "we could all die out there"

"we will probably die out there" Eshan said, "but if we don't try we will defiantly die"

"we survived the last winter why can't we just hold out in Winterfell"

"we don't know how long winter will last and thanks to the last war we don't have the provisions to hold up and wait" Eshan looked at the king dead on with a serious look, "we need to strike at winter before it strikes us otherwise Westeros is doomed"

"I get the feeling you just want to go to war again but you are right" the king clenched his fist in determination, "we will no longer cower inside when winter comes, I will make the next winter the last"

"bold words your grace, let's see if you can back them up on the battlefield" Eshan let out a laugh at the kings determination

That night they set sail for White harbour as they left Volantis, Eshan stood on the deck of the ship watching his home float further and further away, he didn't take his eyes off the shore not even when the king stopped beside him.

"we are going to die beyond that wall" Eshan said not taking his eyes off the lights on the shore

"is that why you wanted to come here?" Robb asked as he looked to the shore, "you wanted to come back home one last time?"

"probably" Eshan said as the lights on the shore became dim and disappeared completely

End of chapter 26


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Robb hugged his brother and sisters as he said goodbye to them, "will you find Bran?" Rickon asked as Robb let go of him

"I will" Robb told him but he doubted that Bran was still alive deep down

Robb move on to his mother who pulled him in to a tight hug, she didn't seem to want to let go. Robb pulled out of the hug, his mother didn't say anything she just gave him a sad look, he moved over to his wife and son who he hugged tighter than the others, "come back please" she whispered in his ear

"I will" he whispered back before breaking their hug

Robb walked over to his horse and started to saddle it, "hope you have no regrets your grace" Eshan said as he saddled his horse

"yeah listening to you" the king said with a smile as he finished saddling and trotted off to the gate

Eshan let out a smile as he followed after the king and they started their journey to the wall. It took their group a few days to reach the wall and as soon as they arrive they were called in to a meeting. All the most important people in Westeros were there; Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, the blackfish, Mance Rayder, Jon Snow and many other noble lords.

"enjoy your holiday boy" Stannis asked as the king entered the room

"I was securing provisions and weapons for this expedition" Robb told him before turning to the blackfish, "have they arrived yet?"

"yes the Volantenes kept their promise" the old riverman said

"good now all we can do is pray that the gods are on our side" Robb as they started to devise a strategy

"we don't know how many of those things they have, we can't split up our forces" Mance said at Davos' suggestion to divide their forces

"he's right we have just over half a million troops and everyone we lose adds to our enemies ranks" Stannis said, "we can't afford to sacrifice anyone"

"Stannis did you make what I asked you to?" Eshan asked as he gave the southern king a knowing look

"yes and I can't believe you came up with it" Stannis told him

"what are you two talking about?" Robb asked

"it would be better if we showed you" Eshan stood and left the room with everyone else following

They followed Eshan to a giant metal dragon head with equal as big bellows on the back, "what is that?" blackfished asked when he saw it

Eshan simply walked over to a crate and produced a jar of wildfire, he fitted the jar between the bellows and the dragon head and moved to light a wick in the dragons mouth. Eshan pulled the bellows up and pushed them down, producing a green flame from the dragons mouth, "these things will spew fire at our enemy" Eshan started talking after the demonstration, "I drew up the designs and I asked King Stannis to build some for our campaign"

"in the time we were given we managed to make 30 of these things and I have men trained to use them" Stannis to the group as they marvelled at it

"if I had just a little more time I could have made it handheld" Eshan said as he smiled at his creation

"with this we will be able to burn their Wights to ashes" Jon said as he looked at the iron dragon

That night the full might of Westeros marched forward beyond the wall, leaving only a handful of men to guard the wall. The men marched for days, dragging their equipment through the snow, without seeing a single Wight or White Walker, the army soon reached the fist of the first men and they made camp to review their strategy.

"we need to find them" Stannis said as he looked at the crudely drawn map of beyond the wall

"or do we" Eshan whispered to himself, "if we build up a defence here they will be drawn to us and they won't ever reach the wall"

"we could use the trees from the haunted forest to build a fort and those iron dragons can be used to thin their number" Jon said

"don't forget Jon Bran is somewhere out there we need to find him" Rob told his brother who agreed with him

"you can risk your men's lives looking for a corpse but mine won't follow you on a wild chase boy" Stannis argued

"it would be a good idea to send out scouting parties to track any enemy movements" Eshan looked over the map trying to think of where their enemy could be

End of chapter 27


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

"I can't believe we're doing this" Eshan complained as his horse trudged through the snow

"I need to do my part for this war and Bran could still be out here somewhere" Robb rode beside him

The small group of five riders, and a wolf that was off hunting, rode deep in to the haunted forest as they searched for any sign of the white walkers. They had rode for a few days and found no sign of their enemy.

"your grace we should head back, there has been no sign of the enemy" one of the men said

"I suppose you're ri…."Robb was thrown off his horse as an arrow lodged itself in his shoulder

"Robb!" Eshan jumped off his horse as the other men formed a circle around the king

"I'll be fine" Robb said as Eshan helped him up, "but we need to get out of here"

"that'll be easier said than done" Eshan looked around as wights dashed between the trees

Eshan pulled out his sword as one of the soldiers was hit in the neck by an arrow. Eshan helped Robb on to his horse and the four remaining men rode as fast as they could deeper in to the forest. Wights picked the other two men off as they tried to escape, Eshan slashed at any wight that got close enough, suddenly an arrow hit Eshan's horse and sent the two men in to the snow. A wight stood over the king, about to deliver the killing blow, when Grey wind jumped out of nowhere and took it down.

"I think this is the end" Robb drew his sword as the two stood back to back, with the wolf growling at the advancing undead

"I have one last trick" Eshan pulled out a vile of wildfire

"what are you doing?" Robb asked as the wights advanced on them

Eshan ripped some cloth off his cape and stuffed it in the vile before he ran his sword against his armour, creating sparks and lighting the cloth, he threw it at the wights as it exploded and sent green fire everywhere.

"RUN!" Eshan grabbed Robb and the two ran through the flames

The three ran deeper in to the haunted forest, the ran as fast as they could as they tried to outrun the undead. They had been running for a few hours when they decided that they were probably safe ad fell down in the snow, "we need to get back to the fist of the first men" Robb said as he sat against a tree

"I know but we have more important things to worry about" Eshan said as he looked at the darkening sky, "night will soon fall and we have no shelter and you're still injured"

"I'll be fine" Robb pulled himself up as the two set off again

They walked for about an hour before Robb collapsed in the snow, "Robb!" Eshan shook the king but got no response, "you're not fine damn it"

Eshan ripped off more cloth as he did his best to get the arrow out of the king's shoulder and dress the wound, he managed to stop the bleeding but they still had no shelter and night would soon fall, "I should have gone to Yi ti" Eshan complained as he started to dig a hole in the snow, "at least this can double as a grave if we freeze out here"

Eshan dragged the king in to the hole and climbed on top of him as he wrapped himself around the king to keep at least a little of their body heat. Eshan was shivering in the hole when he felt the weight of Gray wind on top of him.

"thanks" Eshan whispered as he closed his eyes

Robb opened his eyes to see Eshan's face right in front of his and covered in snow, he tried to move but he could barely find the energy, "wake up" he said as he pushed Eshan

"I am awake your grace" Eshan cracked open his eyes, "good to see we're still alive"

"why are we in a hole?" Robb asked as Eshan helped him up

"it was the only way we possibly wouldn't freeze" Eshan told him as they set off again

They walked for hours barely able to stand for most of it. As they were about to collapse in the snow from exhaustion they found a weirwood tree standing on a hill with a cave leading in to the hill, the two pretty much ran in to the cave as they collapsed at its entrance.

"we can't stay here, we should move further in" Eshan said as he jabbed Robb in the ribs but the king was out cold again, "for fucks sake"

Eshan pushed himself up and pulled the king on to his back. As he moved deeper in to the cave he started to hear the voices of people, the cave eventually opened up and Eshan could see an old man tied up in the vines of the tree with a boy at his feet and a girl and a giant man talking. As soon as Eshan entered the cave the girl jumped up and pointed a spear at him.

"who are you?" she demanded

"hodor" the giant started to point at Robb

"if you're Hodor then that boy must be Brandon Stark" Eshan fell to the floor as he looked over to the boy holding on to the vines, "what's wrong with him?"

"tell me who you are?" she asked

"I am hand of the king to king Robb Stark" Eshan pointed to the unconscious king

"so that's Bran's brother" she looked down at him, "what's wrong with him?"

"we were attacked by wights, he was hit by an arrow" Eshan told her, "what's wrong with Bran?"

"something mystical, my brother was the one who really understood it" she told him, "I am Meera Reed"

"Eshan, it'll be nice not to be ru…"Eshan stopped as he felt the temperature drop and he saw his breath

Meera ran out of the cave and saw an army of wights with the night king at its head, Meera ran back inside as the children of the forest attempted to hold them off. She dragged unconscious Bran on to a sled as she attempted to wake him up.

"what the hell is going on?" Eshan asked as he picked up Robb

"the white walkers are here and we need to leave" she told him as Hodor rocked in the corner, "but Hodor is the only one who can really carry him"

Eshan threw Robb on top of Bran as he drew his sword and started cutting down the wights falling from the ceiling, the children of the forest helped him as Meera tried to get Bran to warg in to Hodor. Hodor suddenly stood up and started to drag the sled and the group started to leave the cave, Eshan watched as a white walked marched in to the cave. The Volantene swung his sword at the monsters head but it was blocked by an ice sword, using the white walkers confusion, Eshan hit it in the face with his pommel and swung through its neck. As they left the cave Eshan lit his last vile of wild fire and threw it in to the cave as it filled with wights.

The group ran down a long hallway as an army of wights filled the corridor behind them, they ran as fast as they could but the undead were slowly gaining on them. The last child of the forest stopped and faced the oncoming horde and as they over took her she exploded, buying the rest a few precious seconds, the five of them got to a door as Hodor and Eshan started to ram themselves against it, they managed to open the door and close it just before the wights got to them.

"HOLD THE DOOR!" Meera screamed at the giant as Eshan picked up the sled and started to drag it, "HOLD THE DOOR!"

Bran, Robb, Eshan, Summer, Grey wind and Meera managed to escape as Hodor held the door shut even as the wights broke through and clawed and stabbed him. He held the door.

End of chapter 28


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Robb was awoken by the shaking of the sled, as he opened his eyes he came face to face with his little brother, "BRAN!" the king jumped in to action, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and shook his brother but got no response

"he's alive" Robb looked up to see Eshan dragging the sled through the dark forest, "but he won't respond to anything"

"what happened?" Robb asked

"turns out that cave was where your brother was hiding but soon after we arrived we were attacked by the white walkers and their army" Eshan explained

"what was it like?" Robb asked

"it was terrifying, corpses coming for us from all directions and then a white walker appeared" Eshan told him

"and what happened?" Robb listened curious

"turns out Valyrian steel does kill them but they are still like nothing I've ever seen, skin so white it glows even in the dark and blue eyes that look in to your soul" Eshan told the king

"do you think we can beat them?" Robb asked solemnly

"whether we try or not we die" Eshan said

"so do you have a plan on where we are going to go?" Meera interrupted the conversation

"who is she?" Robb asked

"Meera Reed, her and her brother were helping Bran" Eshan said

"my father talked highly of your father" Robb said as he recognised the name, "they saved each other's lives more than once during Robert's rebellion, I thank you for helping my brother"

"I was only doing what had to be done" Meera said

"good now can we focus on getting back to our camp" Eshan said as he continued to pull the sled, "and maybe one of you could help me pull this"

"we need to be on guard for any wights they send after us" Meera said as she raised Eshan's sword

At that moment Bran came to and looked around to see his brother, "Robb?" he asked confused

"Bran" Robb enveloped his brother in a hug, "I've been searching for you for years"

"why are you here? what happened with the war?" Bran asked

"I won the war, everyone is safe but we still couldn't find you" Robb told him, "the northern kingdoms of Westeros are independent from the iron throne but we still need to ensure the future of all people"

The group trudged through the snow only stopping for a few hours to rest, they travelled for days constantly fearing attack from the undead. Eshan and Robb finally pulled the sled up to the gates of the fort at the fist of the first men before they collapsed in the snow. Robb woke up inside of a tent to find Jon standing over him.

"what happened?" the king looked around to find Bran sleeping in the bed next to him

"you collapsed right outside the gates, we brought you in and patched you up" Jon told him, "we thought you were dead, what happened out there?"

"while we were scouting we were attacking and only me and Eshan managed to escape but I got caught in my shoulder, we spent the night in a hole and then soon found a cave and I soon passed out and when I came to we were running from that cave" Robb told his brother

"so they are close" Jon mumbled to himself, "we might only have a few days before they descend on us"

Eshan walked through the cold air as he walked to a tent, "are you awake your grace?" he asked as he entered

"yes and I'll be fighting fit in a day" Robb told him as he pulled himself up

"good because we need to discuss our plan of attack" Eshan said, "get changed the other lords are waiting"

Robb pulled on his clothes as he walked through the camp and walked in to a tent filled with the noble lords of Westeros. The king took a seat and the council started, "you've seen them boy what do you think we should do?" Stannis asked Robb

"they have numbers on their side but they don't have any formation or strategy, they just rush the enemy" Robb told the lords, "we could use that to our advantage"

"and how could we do that?" Lord Karstark asked

"cavalry charges" Eshan said

"what?" Stannis looked at the Volantene

"we can crush the wights under hoof and the steel dragons will keep them from the walls" Eshan told them, "and between the charges we shoot them with flaming arrows"

"we could lace the field with wildfire" Mance Rayder suggested

"I would like to reserve as much as we can for the steel dragons but that idea is just too good" Eshan said

"but what about the white walkers?" Lord Umber asked, "they won't be affected by wild fire, will they?"

"I had many of the Valyrian steel fragments forged in to spear tips, if we give them to the cavalry then they will be able to fight the white walkers" Eshan said, "and once we thinned out the wights we can send out our main force to deal with the white walkers"

"this won't be easy but it is for the future of all people so we can't lose" Robb said

End of chapter 29


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

A single horn blew over the snow covered wasteland, they had about an hour until they were all probably going to die. Eshan saddled his horse as he checked all the straps and his weapons, "I am going to die" he whispered to himself

"what was that mi'lord?" a soldier behind him asked

"nothing" Eshan pulled himself up on to the horse

"don't die" Robb walked up to him, "you're more important than you know"

"is this a confession of love your grace?" Eshan asked mockingly, "I'm flattered but you're not really what I'm looking for"

"well I'm disappointed but I still want you to live" Robb said with a chuckle, "you know what you have to do?"

"crush and burn them to dust" Eshan answered, "now get out of here you need to get ready as well"

"I'll see you back at Winterfell" Robb walked away

Eshan closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, "MEEEEEEEEN!" he screamed at the hundreds of horsemen behind him, "WE ARE GOING TO DIE TODAY, BUT BEFORE YOU'RE EVEN ALLOWED TO THINK OF DYING YOU NEED TO KILL A HUNDRED OF THOSE THINGS, I WANT EACH OF YOU TO DIE OF A THOUSAND WOUNDS FROM A THOUSAND ENEMIES YOU'VE KILLED, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"

The cavalry let out cheer as they rattled their spears, "AND ONE LAST THING, when you do finally die make sure you cut your head off, I don't want to have to do it myself"

Two horns were blown as the gates of the fort opened up, "KILL THEM ALL!" Eshan whipped his reigns as they charged forward and in to the white landscape

The army of thousands of wights charged towards the fist of the first men; as they closed in the iron dragons produced plumes of fire, burning through their front ranks. The cavalry soon smashed in to the right flank of the undead army and easily crushed the soldiers of skin and bone, the horsemen the horse men opened bottles of wildfire strapped to the backs of their horses as they rode, as soon as the cavalry was clear archers fired flaming arrows. They did this a few times as they cut through the wights numbers and turned the snow to flames and the ice to steam. Eshan speared a wight through the head as his horse crushed another two, he saw the dwindling number of enemies and blew his horn.

Hundreds of thousands of Westerosi men charged out of the fort to clash with the undead army; the field turned to chaos as explosions threw limbs and bodies everywhere, living swords clashed with dead swords as men died and died again. Eshan was slicing through the undead when an arrow hit his horse and sent him to the ground, he was up in a second slicing through the undead when they parted and a white walker stepped forward.

"I really should have gone to Yi Ti" Eshan said as he threw the spear at the monster

The walker knocked the spear as side with his ice sword and charged Eshan, the Volantene drew his sword and the two clashed. The walker thrust at Eshan's chest as he parried the blade and threw a punch at the things face, it didn't move an inch as Eshan was punched in the stomach and sent flying back.

"oh fuck" he groaned as he pushed himself up

Eshan charged towards the white walker and as they were about to clash a spear sailed through the air and struck the monster in its neck, turning it to ice, "I think you dropped that" Robb appeared through the chaos

"I threw it away" Eshan corrected as he continued cutting down wights, "there really seems to be no end to them"

"well we won against greater odds" Robb said as they stood together, cutting down corpses

across the battlefield, Jon snow stabbed and slashed at the undead soldiers, they were making progress little by little they were draining their enemy, "we can't do this forever" he thought as he stomped on a wight's skull, "they don't get tired but our men will start to fade soon"

Jon continued pushing through the wights and he soon came upon a white walker but this one seemed different, his armour was different, he had crown like horns growing from his head and he had a different air around him compared to the other white walkers. Without thinking Jon charged the Night King, he swung his sword and the white walker stopped the blade with his bare hand, Jon was shocked for a second before the Night King sent him flying with a punch.

Jon stood up again as the Night King slowly walked towards him, Jon raised his sword as he prepared to fight the monster. The night's watchman ran towards the Night King and brought his sword down on the thing, the Night King caught the blade, "have humans really fallen so far" his voice was raspy and as cold as ice, Jon was frozen in place just from the sound

Longclaw was ripped from Jon's grasp as the Night King picked him up by the neck and threw him across the battlefield, Jon smashed in to a tree as fell to the ground. Jon looked up to see the white walker approach him, the crow felt that his ribs and many other bones were broken, he could barely see straight as the Night King approached. Suddenly Ghost tackled the white walker and brought it to the ground but the wolf soon had his neck snapped and the Night King rose again, "the last man to face me in battle didn't have a wolf" the Night King slowly walked towards Jon

"Azor Ahai, the last hero, the prince that was promised, so many names for an untimely failed hero" the Night King inspected Jon's sword as he approached the crow, "he did delay our plans for a few thousand years although I still don't remember which of these wights is him so in the end it really doesn't matter"

"why are you doing this?" Jon asked as he pulled himself up the tree, "what is the point of killing everything?"

"I don't know, I just have to do it, it's an insatiable urge to kill everything and bring about an eternal winter" the Night King told him, "for as long as I can remember I've wanted to bring about the end of all living things, summer must end and with that comes the winter"

Jon ran at the Night King and threw a punch, the whit walker used Longclaw and impaled Jon, "this might set us back for a few hundred years but winter will eventually sweep over the land" the Night King released his grip on Longclaw and Jon fell in to the reddening snow, "maybe they will make a legend of you"

The Night king walked away as Jon looked down at the sword in his stomach as he forced himself to stay conscious, "I can't let him live" Jon thought as he grabbed Longclaw's hilt, "I'll die if I pull this out but it's my only choice, even a wound will be enough for me now"

Jon pulled his sword from his stomach as he summoned all his strength and charged at the Night King, the white walker king turned and caught the blade, "if you could hurry up and die you'll make quite a nice wight, I might even introduce you to the last he…"the Night King stood in shock as flames flicked across long claw and cut in to his hand

Jon used the last of his strength to raise his sword and brought it down on the surprised Night King, Longclaw cleaved right through the Night king as Jon fell to the ground and slipped in to darkness. All across the battlefield the wights fell down dead, leaving a hand full of white walkers that were quickly dealt with, Eshan and Robb sat against a tree as everyone caught their breath.

"do you know what happened?" Eshan asked the king

"no clue but as long as we won does it matter" Robb said

"now come on we should find Jon and get a drink" Eshan pulled himself to his feet

The two eventually found Jon, lying in a puddle of his own blood surrounded by shards of ice, they brought his body back to the fist and they soon made their way south of the wall. Jon's body was taken back to Winterfell where he was buried, along with Ghost and Longclaw, alongside his father.

"so what are you going to do now?" Robb asked Eshan as the two men relaxed in the king's room

"I'm going back to my keep to die an old man" told him, "I'm gonna be rich and fat and old and happy"

"that is the only plan of yours that I've ever liked" Robb said

"surprisingly I agree with you" Eshan chuckled as the two started laughing

400 years later, Black keep, Northern Westerlands

A young man, around 20 years old, stood in a large hall filled with statues and paintings and other treasures. He looked up at the paintings that lined the walls when a young lady walked in, "what are you doing here?" he asked when he noticed her

"I am your betrothed, Lord Nishant, I should be by your side" she answered

"our wedding is not for a few months I thought you would be back home saying goodbye" Nishant said

"I wish to get acquainted with my new home, it's much different from Volantis, although you can tell a Volantene built this place" Nisha looked around the hall, "what is this place?"

"the hall of treasures, one of the first parts of the keep that was built, the gold on the walls was taken from Casterly rock" Nishant looked around the hall, "my father would bring me in here and give me a sweet every time I could name a person or treasure, I learned them all"

"there are hundreds of treasures in here I doubt that" Nisha said

"Akash Blackwall, the iron crusher" he pointed to a picture of a man standing in front of burning ships, "when the Ironborn rose up again he was key in crushing their navy after he defeated them at sea he sailed to the iron islands and burned all the ships in port"

"Anuj the west wind" he pointed to a statue of a man standing on the helm of a ship, "Akash's younger brother he sailed west and discovered a new land"

"Bodhi the Volantene" he whipped around to another painting of a man standing on the shores of the Rhyone, "he spent most of his reign as lord Blackwall in Volantis"

"Jon snow, the hero of dawn" he pointed to a statue of the man with his wolf, "fought in the second war for the dawn and killed the Night king"

"Rohit, the uniter" Nishant pointed to a painting of a man standing on the neck of a lion holding a scorched crown in his hand, "he led the forces of the north against the mad Baratheon king, Carron, he smashed the southern armies and claimed the other half of the Westerlands in the process"

"Eshan our house's founder" he looked up at the portrait hanging over the door, Eshan sat on a throne in front of a banner showing a hand grasping a sword with the words 'the hand that holds the sword' underneath, "he was given barely anything and he rose to become a noble lord"

"it seems I'm wrong you seem to know every person in this room" Nisha conceded, "I'll leave you with your family, my lord"

Nishant looked at the spot next to his father's portrait, "and what will I be remembered for" he wondered before leaving the hall

End


End file.
